


No Gravity

by erisgregory, oitooru



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Angst, Asahi x Nishinoya, Background Relationships, Daichi x Sugawara, Drinking, I swear there are some straight people if you squint, M/M, Multi, Mystery, Science Fiction, Suspense, Tsukishima x Yamaguchi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-08
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-04-30 16:18:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5170346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erisgregory/pseuds/erisgregory, https://archiveofourown.org/users/oitooru/pseuds/oitooru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After college graduation, the old team gets back together for a weekend of catching up and playing volleyball, but a passing comet wreaks unexpected havoc on their plans and their lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. When You Sing Stars Fill Up My Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is loosely based around the movie, Coherence. Since that movie has several twists, We'd like to ask you to keep any possible spoilers out of the comments. We're hoping to put in our own twists and turns so we're not completely predictable. You won't need to see the movie to enjoy it as the fic stays firmly in a future version of canon, along with all of our self indulgent ships, of course. This is a first time collaboration with my incredibly talented son so I'm hoping you'll give us lots of feedback and support and just maybe it will be the first of many!
> 
> Beta'd by the amazing [Shiro](http://shirox-thelaserprincess.tumblr.com/). Thank you so much for your help!
> 
> There's a playlist, too [No Gravity](http://8tracks.com/erisgregory/no-gravity)

“Do you have your bag?” Kageyama pretended to scroll through a list on his phone while Hinata bounced on the balls of his feet next to him on the platform like an excited school kid.

“Yes.” Hinata wasn’t paying him any attention. He was too busy watching the crowd of other train goers gathering around them. When he got that giddy excited look on his face he still looked like he could be in high school and not like the recent college graduate he was.

“And your pillow?” Kageyama watched as a little scowl crinkled Hinata’s forehead.

“Yes. Clearly.” He raised his pillow and shook it at Kageyama, but he still didn’t look up. Behind them a train came to a stop and the automated instructions were playing as people bustled to and fro.

Kageyama was excited for their trip too, but he couldn’t miss out on a chance to tease Hinata. “Did you turn off all of the lights?” 

“Yes.” Hinata sighed. He shuffled from one foot to the other and hoisted his duffle bag higher up on his shoulder. He was getting irritated. It made Kageyama’s mouth twist in an attempt not to smile.

“Made sure your bedroom window was latched?” He kept his voice as even as possible; calm.

“Yes,” This was said with a huff and now Hinata was looking at him, eyebrows raised slightly. Kageyama didn’t keep eye contact, he couldn’t if he wanted to keep a straight face.

“And did you make sure the stove was turned off?” Kageyama tried to hold back a satisfied smirk as Hinata became even more visibly frustrated.

“No. And do you know why? Because neither of us used the stove today. Or yesterday! Or the day before that!” Hinata was scowling at him, his cheeks starting to splotch pink in the center, and Kageyama couldn’t take it. The tiniest little laugh slipped passed his tightly pressed lips. It only took Hinata a moment after that to realize Kageyama had just been giving him a hard time and then he was hitting Kageyama on the arm repeatedly while other train passengers parted around them, some of them staring.

Kageyama was laughing outright before Hinata finally stopped. “You’re such a jerk!”

“Dumbass. You make it so easy.” Hinata huffed at him again, but he was smiling now too and instead of looking all around them he was looking only at Kageyama. It made his chest feel tight, in the best way. Hinata was still shaking his head, but he was no longer distracted or antsy, so Kageyama felt completely justified.

This was all really new, this thing between them. The open way Hinata stared from time to time. The casual way he reached for Kageyama’s hand, like he did now. That it was completely acceptable to lean in against him and breathe in the clean scent of his shampoo. They’d only been on one official date right at the end of term to an Italian restaurant, Capo Pellicano, and they still hadn’t quite gotten past all of their nerves. It was new and good and it made Kageyama smile stupidly for no reason at all except that he was happy. 

Both of them were ready to look to the future and everything it could mean for them, and this trip was just the beginning.


	2. Galaxies Pour Down My Cheeks

Hinata settled into his seat by the window, taking in the view with a smile. Right now it was all train tracks and urban landscaping, but once they got out of the city it was supposed to be amazing. He would feel guilty except Kageyama insisted he’d get motion sickness if he didn’t have the aisle seat. Since Hinata had never once heard of Kageyama getting motion sickness of any kind, it was more likely that Kageyama knew how much it would mean to Hinata to have the view. It might be the type of thing one should do for their new boyfriend, but Hinata knew he’d have given the seat up even before, as Hinata’s friend, because that’s just the kind of person Kageyama was. That was the kind of relationship they had, most of the time.

“Hey, are Daichi and Sugawara gonna come?” Hinata asked, remembering that last he’d heard, they might not be available

“They’re coming. The game at Kurasuno was canceled, so Daichi didn’t have to go.” Kageyama replied. He was sorting through his things, pulling out reading material before stowing his bag away.

“I’m super excited to see them again, especially Yu, maybe he’ll show me that new move he told me about. But I also can’t wait to see Tanaka either, Nastu’s team is doing really well, they’re number one in the prefecture now! Oh, and Tsukishima and Yamaguchi too, I haven’t heard from either of them since before finals. Do you think Asahi will wanna play if we do a couple of games? I hope so, we haven’t played with all of us together in such a long time-,” Kageyama interrupted Hinata.

“Personally I’m excited to see Coach Ukai,” Kageyama said.

“Oh my god I’m super excited to tell him we made the team, he’s gonna flip!” Hinata replied.

“I’m pretty sure he won’t be too happy that we’re on the same team as Oikawa though.” Kageyama’s brows drew together as he spoke.

“Yeah but what about Kuroo? We get along pretty well now.” Hinata tried to sound reassuring. They hadn’t really talked about it, both choosing to ignore it for as long as possible. 

Kageyama’s frown wasn’t going anywhere now. “Okay, but Oikawa is still the douche in the room. It’ll be hard to get past his personality, especially considering our history of run-ins.”

“I guess we just have to try and get over it. Even if he doesn’t,” Hinata shrugged slightly, but he knew how serious the matter was, he just didn’t want it to dampen Kageyama’s spirits too much during their reunion.

“I just hope we can put up with him long enough to actually play. Did you hear about how he works as a self managed model on the side now?” Kageyama huffed.

“Of course he does. He’s inseparable.” Hinata shook his head in disgust. “No one can stand to be around him, it’s not just us.”

“Dude I’m pretty sure it’s unsufferable.” Kageyama corrected.

“Really? Huh. That does sound more right.” Satisfied that Kageyama was distracted by ragging on Oikawa, Hinata grinned brightly again.

After few more snarky insults focused at Oikawa, the two of them settled into the trip. Hinata mostly listening to music in between short naps, and Kageyama reading manga in between his own naps. The trip took just a little over two hours, and though it wasn’t terribly long and did in fact have some fantastic scenery, Hinata was already squirming in his seat when they reached the station in Furukawa. 

The moment they stepped on to the platform, they were greeting by a lively Tanaka calling their names. “Hey, Hinata! Kageyama! Over here!”

“Tanaka!” They both called excitedly and ran over. Hinata aggressively hugged him, and while Kageyama only tried to shake Tanaka’s hand. Tanaka pulled him into a quick hug anyway.

“I missed you guys, how have you been?” Tanaka kept one hand on each of them, squeezing a bit before letting go.

“We’ve been doing well, how have you been doing mister ‘First in the Prefecture’?” Hinata had kept close tabs on both teams at Karasuno and was proud that both the boys and girls were champions.

“Let’s get in the car before I tell you more about the girls.” Though he grinned with obvious pride.

Tanaka insisted on helping with their things, despite them only having one bag each. He led them out of the station to his car and the first thing Hinata noticed was the air. It was cleaner smelling, fresher than the city air he was used to breathing. There were mountains in the distance with just enough clouds to give everything a misty green quality that Hinata wanted to soak up. He didn’t have time just then, because they were ready to get in the car and were faced with the dilemma of where to sit. Tanaka was driving, obviously, so that meant one of them had to sit in the back.

Kageyama and Hinata did rock paper scissors over who should sit in the front but only ended up accusing one another of cheating. Hinata knew he ought to be more accommodating considering Kageyama had given him the window seat on the train, but he just couldn’t back down since Kageyama had made an issue out of it. It was petty and he knew it, but he couldn’t make himself say so.

“I’ll put you both in the backseat if you don’t work this out.” Tanaka threatened. Unfortunately, this only made their bickering worse.

“That’s it, in the backseat, the both of you. Right now!” Slowly, the boys moved to either side of the car and got into the back. They both looked out their windows.

“You’re lucky I didn’t just leave you both in the parking lot for fighting like children.” Tanaka’s words were chastising, but his voice sounded amused to Hinata. He wasn’t going to smile though, he was embarrassed that after all this time something stupid could still pit them against each other.

“Sorry.” They said in unison, glaring out of the corners of their eyes.

“So anyway,” Tanaka redirected the conversation valiantly, “The girls are doing really well in practice. Next time you guys get a chance you need to come see them. I know Natsu would love that. She tells everyone about you two.”

“We’ve definitely been talking about it. Hinata’s mom made us promise not to come so close to home again without staying to see everyone.” Kageyama admitted.

“What about Daichi’s team?” Hinata wondered. He’d given up being upset already and was paying attention to Tanaka instead. 

“Yeah, how is his team doing?” Kageyama didn’t sound nearly as miffed as he had a minute ago. 

“Not as well as mine I’m sure, but they’re also number one in the prefecture. They’ve lost more sets than my girls though. They usually only win 2-1.” Tanaka beamed at them in the rearview mirror.

“That reminds me, before we get there I need to call Natsu, but my phone is dead. Mind if I use yours for a sec?” Hinata asked.

“Not at all, it’s in the bag in the middle back there.” Hinata rifled through it and eventually found Tanaka’s phone under some sports magazines and gym shorts that were hopefully clean.

“Dude, what did you do to that phone?” Asked Kageyama, as he watched Hinata pull it out.

“What do you mean?” Hinata was busy stuffing things back into the bag.

“Turn it over, the screen is all cracked.” Kageyama pointed, scowling.

“Holy crap you’re right. What did you do to it? Why is the screen all messed up?” Hinata ran a careful finger over the broken glass. It looked like it had been dropped. 

“Are you guys pranking me? I haven’t cracked it and neither of you could’ve done it back there.” Tanaka didn’t take his eyes off the road, but he seemed like he wanted to pull over and check.

“Look, we’ll show you when we get there, it won’t even turn on.” Hinata tried to restart it, but nothing happened. He passed it to Kageyama to double check, but nothing either of them did made the phone turn on.

“I’ll believe it when I see it guys.” Tanaka told them.

The rest of the ride was silent, save for when Tanaka turned on his music. Kageyama and Hinata tried their best to ignore the loud American rock but it was hard considering the fact that Tanaka was singing along and doing small dances in his seat. They failed to contain their laughter and Tanaka just started singing more passionately. Despite all of that, the mood was light again and Hinata was glad. He couldn’t wait to see everyone else and the last thing he wanted was to show up on the outs with Kageyama. 

When they arrived at the house, they were both amazed at the size of it. They couldn’t believe how much larger it looked in real life compared to the pictures they’d been sent earlier that week. They got their stuff out of the back of the car and started up the steps after Tanaka. 

“Holy shit.” they said at the same time.

“I know right?” Tanaka said. “That was my first response too. This place is huge.”

The moment they approached the door, it opened and some of their friends came out to help carry their things and greet them.

“You guys are late! Everyone is here already!” Sugawara smiled at them, though, and tugged them through the door.

“What took you so long?” Nishinoya grabbed Hinata into a bear hug before forcing Kageyama to join them. When they broke apart there were smiles all around and Hinata felt like he could burst from happiness.

“I’m glad you could make it guys.” Daichi was at the back of the welcoming party.

“We’re glad you could make it.” Hinata told him with a grin. He slipped out of his shoes and into the provided slippers.

“So are we.” Sugawara laughed, then led them down the first hall to their room.

“You guys got the cool room by the way. We pulled sticks for it.” Nishinoya said dejectedly.

The cool room, as it turned out, had a large curved wall of windows looking out down the mountainside. The view was fantastic. Kageyama was stopped next to him, staring while the others put their bags on the bed.

“You weren’t kidding.” Kageyama said.

“Tsukishima was pissed,” Noya added helpfully.

“Hush now, you two get unpacked and come help us with dinner.” Sugawara tugged Nishinoya out after Daichi, leaving the two of them alone in the room.

Hinata walked to the window to get a better look. Kageyama was already unzipping his duffle, but Hinata motioned him over. “Come here for a second.” The sun was just beginning to drop toward the horizon and everything was lit in the warm golden hues of early evening. 

“It’s amazing,” Kageyama breathed.

“I know. I’m so glad we got to come.” Hinata leaned in bumping against Kageyama's arm. “I’m glad we’re here together.”

Kageyama turned to him and smiled that secret smile he only ever had for Hinata. “I am too, Shouyou.”

Hinata felt his cheeks go warm at the familiarity of his name. 

“Let’s unpack.” Kageyama said softly. 

“Okay.” Hinata agreed. 

The room really was pretty great and had a private bathroom attached. The bed was huge, but Hinata just skipped over that in his head choosing to take in the private patio and sitting area outside instead. Besides, it was just a bed for sleeping, they’d already agreed before the trip. 

Kageyama hung his clothes meticulously, while Hinata hastily transferred his things over to a drawer in the dresser. It was a vacation, the last thing he cared about were wrinkles. What he did care about was Kageyama, so he waited as patiently as possible, ambling through their room before going to wash his hands and face. By the time his hands were dry, Kageyama was ready. Together they followed the noise to the big kitchen on the other side of the first floor.

Everyone looked up as they came in. Coach Ukai came around the counter and took their hands in turn welcoming them and telling them how happy he was to see them. Tsukishima was busy chopping vegetables, but he waved his knife at them in greeting. Yamaguchi waved his hand because he wasn’t evil and Ennoshita and Takeda did the same from their spots by the stove and sink respectively. 

They were both immediately pressed into helping. The kitchen was filled with conversation and the business of preparing a large meal. Even though he hadn’t seen some of his friends in a long time it felt very natural to be here in the middle of them, as if they hadn’t missed any time at all.

“What can I get you to drink?” Sugawara asked, coming up behind him. Hinata was helping finish the salad with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. They practically had an assembly line now that Hinata was there.

“I’ll take some water, for now,” Hinata was preparing to rinse the lettuce, so he continued his work, but he hadn’t realized how thirsty he was until Sugawara asked. They’d not had anything since Tokyo. 

Behind him somewhere he could hear Kageyama answer the same question with beer and he smiled. Kageyama didn’t drink too often, neither of them did because of training, but when he did he got chatty and Hinata secretly loved that.

When he returned to his spot next to Tsukishima, clean lettuce and all, there was a glass of water waiting for him. He turned and raised it at Sugawara in thanks and drank.

“So, how does it feel to be a college graduate?” Tsukishima asked. He was adding vegetables to the bowl now and Hinata was starting on the dressing.

“I’m not sure I know yet,” Hinata grinned up at him. “I’m not even sure it feels real.”

Tsukishima gave him a half smile in return. “Well when you figure it out let me know. I have to have something to look forward to.” 

“How much longer do you have?” Hinata asked.

“Years,” was all Tsukishima offered, but Yamaguchi chimed in from the other side of him.

“Maybe only three years, with all the classes he takes.”

Tsukishima made a sound of annoyance, but Hinata could tell he was pleased by how proud Yamaguchi sounded. “Maybe three,” he agreed. Hinata couldn’t help but be impressed. He’d only gone for four years, but Tsukishima was working towards a doctorate.

“Come on now, everyone, to the table, let’s eat!” Coach Ukai organized them carrying the various dishes to the table and Hinata found himself sitting with Kageyama on one side and Nishinoya on the other. Sugawara silently set a glass of beer in front of him with a grin before taking his own seat further down the table.

All was quiet at first, but then the sounds of murmured conversation began to pick up.  
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be at your graduation. Asahi was disappointed too, but Daichi sent us pictures. You guys look so grown up.” Noya told him.

“You say that like you aren’t just a year older than us,” Hinata pointed out and Noya laughed softly.

“I can’t help it.” Noya grinned and took a bite. Hinata couldn’t argue that. He still thought of Ukai as Coach Ukai.

“Okay anyway guys, something really weird happened when I was driving Hinata and Kageyama up here. My phone shit itself and cracked its own screen, look.” Tanaka lifted his phone so everyone could see it. No one was impressed.

“It probably got cracked in your bag, it was just loose in there when we found it.” Kageyama pointed out.

“I told you to get a cover for it,” Daichi wasn’t even looking, but Tsukishima was, Hinata noticed.

“Pass it here,” Tsukishima reached across the table and Tanaka handed it over.

“So you’re saying you didn’t drop it or anything right? You’re sure you didn’t drop the bag either?” Tsukishima asked seriously. “Phones aren’t supposed to break if they’re just in a bag. Especially not like this. It looks more like someone dropped it off a building, or at least it would if there was any damage to the sides.”

“Your point? I’m certain he just dropped it and forgot about it.” Nishinoya snagged a dumpling and ate it, unconcerned.

“Well, it’s strange, don’t you think? Things like this don't just happen. My professor said something about this to me before I left. She said to watch for things like this over the weekend.” Tsukishima said somberly. A few people were still talking on the other end of the table, but Hinata was all ears now.

“Things like Tanaka being a dumbass? I’m lost dude.” Kageyama asked. Hinata elbowed him. He wanted to hear what Tsukishima meant.

“Things like side effects or interference from the Miller's Comet. It’s passing through our atmosphere this weekend, and every time that it has before a bunch of strange things happened. There are over three hundred accounts of weird behavior originating with the viewers of the comet. And in 1908 there was a huge explosion in Siberia that flattened the forest for a four mile radius and shook almost the whole earth.” Yamaguchi chimed in, leaning forward. The table fell into a hush. Everyone was listening now. 

“Okay, but what does that have to do with cracked phone screens?” Hinata asked, shifting restlessly in his seat. 

“Like Tadashi was talking about, most of the things that happen can’t be explained. Stuff like cracking screens would be simple for something so extraordinary. I have to say though, the impact it had on the witnesses is the most interesting. In America during it’s last passing, the people would run from loved ones, saying that they weren’t or couldn't be real.” Tsukishima’s voice was so serious now it was giving Hinata goosebumps.

“Yeah, a bunch of people even claimed that their friends we’re dead, even if they were standing right there, because they had killed them. Some suffered from hallucinations for the rest of their lives. They saw themselves, multiple versions of those around them, and even talked about visiting different dimensions.” Yamaguchi’s voice was grave. Hinata shivered.

“You guys are ranting.” Kageyama didn’t sound nearly as convinced as he had a moment ago, though.

“How do you not find this fascinating? It’s one of the greatest phenomena in all of human history, dude! It could be happening all over again!” Tsukishima was leaning around Yamaguchi to get closer to Kageyama.

“Okay, okay, let’s not make this more than friendly dinner conversation. Why don’t we change the subject?” Sugawara set his glass down a little heavier than usual, interrupting the flow and effectively stopping whatever Kageyama was about to say. Hinata quietly laid his hand over Kageyama’s knee, though he was sure he was the one that needed comforting. All that talk about the comet left him feeling unsettled.

“Well, I’d say this is the perfect time for a toast.” Daichi stood and raised his glass.

“Coach Ukai, thanks for having us here for the weekend. I know you weren’t going to say anything, but I think everyone will want to celebrate with you.” Ukai began to flush, and looked uncharacteristically bashful. “The fact is, Coach Ukai and his wife are expecting, so congratulations! To Coach Ukai everybody.” Everyone stood to toast their coach.

“Thanks guys, thanks, but I know I’m not the only one here with something to celebrate. I’m surprised you’ve all been so laid back. I expected a pissing contest to start up before dinner was even served.” Ukai grinned at them and there was a wave of laughter that rolled around the table.

“Daichi. Didn’t you have something you wanted to share?” Ukai smirked and though Daichi appeared to pale, he stood again, tossing a rueful grin Ukai’s way before turning to Sugawara.

“I hadn’t exactly planned it this way, but I suppose right now is as good a time as any. Thanks for that,” he tossed over his shoulder Ukai who continued to look smug over the whole thing.

Then Daichi pushed his chair back and dropped to one knee next to Sugawara. Hinata gasped. Sugawara was turning decidedly red, while everyone else fell completely silent. Next to him, Kageyama reached for his hand.

“Koushi,” he took Suga’s hand in his own. “You have been my best friend, my team mate, my boyfriend, and partner for years. You’ve stood by me and supported me, you laughed with me and cried with me. You even fight me when you think it’s right and you’re the only one that can do that and make me really think about my decisions. I can’t imagine who I would be now without you and I never want to have to try. I love you, Koushi. Will you do me the honor of becoming my husband?” With that, he pulled a little band from his pocket and held it up for Sugawara to see.

Suga didn’t say anything out loud, or if he did Hinata couldn’t hear him, but he nodded and Daichi slid the ring on his finger before pulling a second one out and offering it to Sugawara to place on his own finger. “So we’re always equal,” Daichi told him. 

Everyone began to cheer and clap and Hinata was glad to see he wasn’t the only one casually swiping at his eyes. Kageyama was too, so he squeezed his hand under the table and shot him a quick smile. 

Tanaka insisted on a kiss, to which they obliged before Daichi settled back into his chair, his hand still around Sugawara’s shoulders. 

After more good wishes for the newly engaged and expecting, they trailed into talking about how Kageyama and Hinata did in the drafts for Japan Men’s Team.

“Hey, that reminds me, how did you guys do in the drafts, did you make it?” Ennoshita asked. 

Hinata tried to keep his face neutral, but he was smiling before he could open his mouth. “Well, we were gonna tell you guys tomorrow, but we both made it on the team. We’re one step closer to the Olympics!” 

“So you’re on the team with Oikawa then?” Asahi set his bowl of rice down and reached for his glass.

“Are you guys okay with that? I mean you have had some trouble getting along in the past.” Ennoshita’s forehead crinkled in concern. As their former captain, Ennoshita knew exactly how hard they’d tried to overcome their past differences with Oikawa. Kageyama especially. Even in college they’d never fully escaped Oikawa’s disdain.

“He’s just gonna have to get over the fact that we were able to get on his team.” Kageyama said, his voice only slightly strained.

“I’m sure he’ll put the past aside now, or he’ll risk his position on the team.” Daichi said, seriously.

“The Japan Men’s team will be full of competition, but his behavior, and yours, will have to be beyond reproach. No matter what he does or what he says, remember who you are and how hard you both worked to get there.” Takeda offered solemly. “You will carry all of our hopes and dreams with you, so don’t let anyone distract you from being the best you can be.”

Hinata and Kageyama both nodded in sync and Takeda quickly glanced around the table. “That wasn’t too much, was it?”

“No. I think it was just about right.” Ukai told him and there were nods and reassurances all around the table.

Dinner was a long affair, the conversation too lively to focus on eating. They all took turns discussing what they’d recently been up to. Asahi was still working in the Tokyo Clinic Rehabilitation Office as a physical therapist and Nishinoya was finally beginning to feel like a real P.E. coach at the elementary school he’d been teaching at. Tanaka had to tell them all, again, how amazing the girl’s team at Karasuno was and also how amazing his girlfriend was, even though she was studying abroad and he hadn’t seen her in four months. 

“Does it bother anyone else that of all people, Tanaka is the one coaching the girls? I feel gross just talking about it. I’m worried about his intentions.” Tsukishima shuddered.

“Don’t ever say something like that to me ever again! My girls are important to me and if you say anything like that again I will never let you go to any of their games!” Tanaka snapped, looking rather hurt. Tsukishima seemed surprisingly mollified, raising both hands.

“Guys, it’s too late for your bickering. We’ve got kind of an early start tomorrow, so we should all turn in.” Asahi said, yawning and getting up with Nishinoya. The table was cleared and dishes set to soaking. Slowly people filled out of the room, until it was just Hinata, Kageyama, Yamaguchi, and Tsukishima talking after cleaning up.

“Hey are you guys planning on coming out to see the comet too?” Yamaguchi asked, taking Tsukishima’s hand and walking towards the back door.

“Yeah sure. Sounds fun.” Hinata said jumping up after him, Kageyama following suit.

“Hey Hinata, before you come out, grab a case of beer.” Tsukishima called back.

“I got it.” Kageyama said to Hinata who nodded and waited by the back door.

The backyard was small but meticulously landscaped, bordered by the tall trees that grew all around them. Above, the stars were clearly visible, bright and sparkling, unlike anything he could see in Tokyo. Just over the roofline of the house was the comet. It was beautiful, even if thinking about all of those things Tsuki and Yamaguchi told them made him feel a little on the anxious side.

Kageyama met him a moment later and they walked out together. A case of beer was probably pushing it, but they could get away with it since they weren’t going anywhere but bed later. Anyway, he already felt more at ease than he had weeks.

“So when are you gonna propose to Yamaguchi?” Hinata asked after they sat down and Kageyama passed out the drinks.

“We’re already married, dumbass. We wear the rings all the time. We got married in high school.” Tsukishima’s smirk was visible in the light streaming from the windows, as was the ring on his finger that he wagged at them.

“Wait. So you’re married already?” Kageyama asked, his eyebrows disappearing into his hairline.

“I just said that didn’t I? We got a marriage license as soon as Tadashi turned 18,” Tsukishima said cooly.

“We had a court marriage, but our parents were super happy so they threw us a little party and bought us our apartment,” said Yamaguchi.

“Damn I knew you two couldn’t have bought it yourselves. Why didn’t I ask?” Hinata leaned back with a huff of annoyance.

“Cause we didn’t change. Only difference was the rings. We figured you guys knew.” Yamaguchi explained. 

“Wait. Does that mean one of you got a name change?” Hinata asked.

“I took Kei’s name.” Yamaguchi told them.

“And you just let us keep calling you Yamaguchi?” Kageyama pointed out.

“It would be weird to change it now,” Yamaguchi shrugged.

“I can’t believe we didn’t know any of this! We’ve been hanging out since graduation.” Kageyama sounded annoyed.

“Well, you’ve been too caught up in your own drama since since the two of you met.” Tsukishima’s laugh was a little on the cold side, but they’d been friends the past few years so he could get away with teasing them. A little. Besides, he wasn’t exactly wrong. Hinata could admit that to himself, if not out loud.

“We’re past all of that now,” Hinata said slowly.

Yamaguchi grinned at him and everyone sat quietly drinking for a moment, looking up at the comet.

“You guys had me worried, our last year in high school. I wasn’t sure your friendship would survive, let alone anything else.” Tsukishima said this gently. He wasn’t teasing any more. 

Hinata felt his stomach churn uncomfortably at the memory. He really didn’t want to talk about it and hash it all out again. At the time, he hadn’t known if his and Kageyama’s friendship could last either.

“It did, though. That’s all that matters. I wasn’t handling things very well, back then, but I grew up. I had to be honest with myself before I could be honest with Hinata.” Kageyama reached over and took Hinata’s hand in his.

“Gag me with a spoon. What about Kenma? Did you ever patch things up with him?” Tsukishima asked. “I heard he’s out of college now too and starting up his own gaming company. Has an app he developed that was wildly successful or something.”

“No. Neither of us talk to him. Not since I broke up with him before college.” Hinata gave Tsukishima as stern a look as possible in the low light. They were stepping into dangerous territory, suddenly, and he needed Tsuki to back off.

Tsukishima’s eyes widened briefly in understanding, but he stopped. They all fell silent then, gazes turning back to the patch of night sky they could see above them, to the comet that hung as though suspended among the stars.

Eventually the conversation picked back up, discussing their friend’s relationships and who among them might be the first after Coach Ukai to become a parent. Almost all bets were on Daichi and Sugawara who would probably adopt a housefull of kids, though Hinata was guessing Tanaka and his girlfriend were a lot more serious than he’d let on. He’d probably be the next one married if you didn’t count Takeda. 

Hinata regaled them all with the story about how he and his sister played a two man game the last time he saw her. Tsukishima went off on a tangent about quantum physics that was so far over his head, it sounded like the plot to some freaky sci-fi movie. He was only budged from his favorite topic by his second favorite topic, dragging former rivals, and each other.

“No, no,” Hinata wheezed, “Second year, summer training camp. Ennoshita tried so hard to keep everyone in line, but Tanaka and Noya kept pranking everyone and letting us all think the first years were doing it. Ennoshita was so mad when he finally caught them!”

“He caught them switching everyone’s underwear while we slept so then he made them do everyone’s laundry the next day!” Kageyama was giggling, which was always something Hinata thought made him look cute.

“They got back at him by wearing frilly aprons while they did it. I still have those pics on my laptop.” Yamaguchi snorted.

“What about the time Asahi had us over for Halloween? The first year after he’d graduated, and Kageyama told a story that scared some of the first years so bad he had to take them home and apologize to their moms!” Tsukishima was laughing so hard Hinata was surprised he didn’t choke.

“What about the time you and Yamaguchi were caught making out in the club room? Ukai had to have a talk with us about the school rules and proper use of the club facilities.” Kageyama threw back. 

“Yeah and Daichi gave us all The Talk and Sugawara passed out condoms. I thought I was going to die.” Hinata added.

Tsukishima’s mouth dropped open but Yamaguchi was laughing still, though he’d covered his face with both hands.

“You and Hinata fell asleep in the supply closet senior year! We never got a good explaination for that!” Tsukishima crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows, waiting.

“We were tired!”

“We’d been talking!”

Hinata and Kageyama answered at the same time and everyone laughed again.

“We were way worse first year,” Hinata shook his head. “We were a mess.”

“I’m glad you’ve finally realized that.” Tsukishima raised his glass in a mock toast which was mostly ignored now that they were all thinking about first year.

“Do you remember Daichi’s face after we knocked the Vice Principal’s toupee off? I thought he was going to beat the shit out of us!” Hinata tried to mimic the face, but there was no way he could pull off that stone cold determination Daichi had as their captain.

“He still had that face when he told us about the three on three game,” Yamaguchi was laughing and Tsukishima was shaking his head. 

“You guys were such assholes when we first met.” Tsukishima observed.

“Us?” Hinata was scandalized. “Don’t lump me in with him! As far as I could tell I’d just joined a team full of assholes!”

“Hey!” Kageyama smacked his arm, but they were all laughing so hard no one could speak for a moment.

“Good thing you like assholes then, huh? Pun intended.” Tsukishima tittered.

Hinata felt his face go scarlet and hoped no one could see it. “You’re not supposed to point out your own pun,” Kageyama said, coming to his rescue. 

“Right? Besides, your one to talk!” Hinata glared at Tsukishima, though he wasn’t mad. It was too funny.

After the laughing died down Yamaguchi spoke up. “There’s one asshole none of us like.” 

“Yeah,” Hinata acknowledged.

“Oikawa.” Kageyama agreed.

“What’re you going to do about him?” Tsukishima asked.

“Ignore him. I’ve tried to be respectful in the past, but he could never see me as anyone besides the brat I was in middle school. I can’t imagine things will be any different now.” Kageyama said.

“The best thing you can do is show him you earned your places on the team fair and square.” Tsukishima said.

Yamaguchi was nodding. “If he’s going to act childish, let him. Let him show that side to the rest of the team and the coach. You guys keep your heads held high.”

“That’s the plan,” Hinata agreed.

After that, the conversation turned toward the future. To the new apartment Hinata and Kageyama were moving into. A one bedroom, closer to the training facility. They talked about Yamaguchi’s research into stars with planets that could sustain viable life and Tsukishima complained that his thesis was getting the better of him. After probably more beer than was wise, some time around one thirty in the morning, the four of them agreed it was time to turn in. 

Hinata took one last glance at the comet before stepping back into the house behind everyone else and locking the door. They had to prop up against one another as they walked and turn out the lights downstairs, all while muffling their laughter as best they could. Hinata had no idea how Tsuki and Yamaguchi were going to make it up the stairs, but once he pushed Kageyama through the door to their bedroom it was no longer his concern.

“So tired,” Kageyama sat heavily on the end of the bed.

“That’s because you drank too much,” Hinata told him, tugging him back to standing.

“Me? What about you? You’re slurring your words.” Kageyama pointed out, his eyes taking on a gleeful gleam.

“Fine, I drank too much too. Let’s get changed so we can pass out like mature adults.” Hinata went to rummage through his drawer until he found the tee shirt he was planning to wear to bed. 

Thankfully Kageyama was still aware enough to find his pajamas and get himself changed while Hinata made use of their bathroom.

He peed, changed, and brushed his teeth before climbing into bed. He was relieved he was too tired and too tipsy to care about sharing a bed with Kageyama. It wouldn’t be the first time ever, but it was the first time since they became an official they. As Kageyama clicked off the light and climbed in next to him though, everything stayed relaxed and easy.

Hinata turned on his side and Kageyama laced their fingers together on his chest. “Today was fun,” He said quietly.

Hinata hummed his agreement.

“I keep thinking about Daichi and Suga. I’m glad they shared that moment with us.” Kageyama admitted.

“I am too.” Hinata whispered.

“Though I’m still mad Tsukishima and Yamaguchi kept us in the dark about their marriage.” Kageyama closed his eyes and Hinata watched him for just a moment before letting his own eyes close.

“They’re jerks.” Hinata could already feel himself slipping into sleep. There was a rustle beside him as and then warmth on his temple where Kageyama pressed a gentle kiss.

“Goodnight, Shouyou,” he whispered.

“Night, Tobio,” Hinata whispered back.

He may have dreamt it, but he was sure he heard a hushed, ‘I love you,’ just before he was really out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear readers, we hoped you enjoyed this fluffy chapter. As we start our descent, please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position. Make sure your seat belt is securely fastened and all carry-on luggage is stowed underneath the seat in front of you or in the overhead bins. Thank you.


	3. Galaxies They Flood The Streets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are so sorry this chapter took so long to get out. It got a good deal longer than expected, so we both hope you'll think the wait was worth it!

 

 

Hinata and Kageyama woke up to the sound of chatter in the kitchen. Kageyama curled close and scooped Hinata in a loose hug before rolling onto his back. Hinata stayed close, drowsy and content enough he could have fallen back asleep. Sunlight was inching across the bed, but it was the weaker light of midmorning and Kageyama’s breathing was steadily slowing back down. He was warm everywhere they were pressed together and it would be easy to slide back into the dream he’d been having if it weren’t for the raucous laughter coming from the other room.

After looking at the clock on his phone, Hinata decided it was time to get up. Wasn’t one of the major perks of being a graduate on vacation, sleeping in? He sat up, blinking and scratching at his head before nudging Kageyama. Hinata’s head hurt a little from the night before, but he’d live.

“Morning Sleepyama, how’s your head?” Kageyama groaned and padded off to the bathroom in grumpy silence. So, not good, Hinata thought. Kageyama didn’t normally mind mornings, but he was probably thinking exactly what Hinata was, which included sleeping in tomorrow morning no matter what. Hinata wasn’t in the mood to tease him for his late night excesses, considering he’d been no better, so they dressed exchanging only a few murmurs before heading to the kitchen to see what all the noise was about.

“Shit!” Hinata said as they were stepping into the hall. He smacked his forehead then winced at the resulting pain.

“What?” Kageyama glanced back at him, concern etching his face.

“I never called Natsu!” Hinata glanced at his phone, but there were no missed calls or messages so he fired off a quick text before stuffing it back into his pocket. He would call later. After breakfast and maybe some painkillers for his headache.

“C’mon, dumbass,” Kageyama huffed a laugh at him and jerked his chin toward the voices. Hinata followed with a small frown. Later, he promised himself again. He wasn’t looking forward to the hard time Natsu was going to give him for being so irresponsible. Again.

“I knew I didn’t break it!” Tanaka was saying when they got to the kitchen. Hinata could almost imagine a much younger Tanaka whipping off his shirt and jumping up and down, he was that triumphant sounding.

“Fine, whatever,” Ennoshita and Takeda resigned themselves to working on breakfast again. They were still unimpressed.

“What's up?” Kageyama asked.

“Asahi’s phone broke last night. We all know he couldn’t have done it himself without crying.” Nishinoya explained.

“Noya,” Asahi took his phone back, his head ducked. He passed it over to Kageyama to show them both.

“Wow, that’s--” Hinata started, hesitantly.

“Yeah. That’s bad.” Kageyama finished.

“Everyone else’s phone is okay, right?” Hinata asked. He handed the phone back to Asahi who shrugged before laying it on the counter.

“No one else is up yet.” Nishinoya told them.

“But I bet there’s going to be more freaky shit happening, you just wait!” Tanaka laid his phone next to Asahi’s before jumping up to sit on the counter.

“I don’t think you should sound so happy about it,” Asahi pointed out, sipping his coffee.

“I’m not happy. I’m vindicated. There’s a difference.” Tanaka explained, chin in the air.

Hinata was still too asleep for much of anything to sink in. He poured himself and Kageyama two cups of coffee then stood leaning with him, against him really, against the counter while the food was finished. Everything smelled amazing and he was starving. Funny how hangovers always did that to him. Usually people complained they couldn’t eat anything. His stomach had always been weird like that.

“Less drinking tonight,” Kageyama whispered.

“Agreed,” Hinata chuckled.

“What are two so happy about and why aren’t you hung over like normal people?” Tsukishima made a beeline for the coffee as he came in, Yamaguchi right behind him.

“Hinata was just telling me that he feels fine and that he dreamt about you drunkenly peeing yourself last night,” Hinata laughed at Kageyama and smacked his arm, calling him a liar and telling Tsukishima that he was in fact hungover as well.

“Whatever,” Tsukishima turned away, face red, while Yamaguchi giggled.

“Come on guys it’s early and we’re all still tired,” said Ukai as he walked into the kitchen. “Let’s just eat and then we can take a trip into town. It’s beautiful but it’s public so don’t fight while we’re out.” He didn’t even glance at Tanaka but told him, “Down,” as he walked by.

Tanaka hopped off the counter as the others tittered at him for being chastised like a little kid.

“Whatever. At least I’m not crazy or careless like everyone seemed to believe yesterday,” He puffed his chest out which only made everyone laugh again.

“So, I don't think I’ve ever seen this one,” Takeda was saying. Hinata glanced over to a framed photograph that he’d noticed the night before. It was sitting in one of the cubbies in the wall of shelves that was cut out between the kitchen and dining room along with several other photographs and knick knacks. Takeda tapped the photo before resuming his task of ladling soup.

Ukai smiled and picked it up. Behind him Yamaguchi was whispering in Tsukishima’s ear. Ennoshita was talking to Kageyama, but Hinata still wasn’t very awake and he was curious about the photograph as well.

“Kiyomi took that. The last day of camp this year, when we let everyone run loose on the beach.” Takeda was nodding, in remembrance probably. “She took a lot, but this was my favorite.” He sat it carefully back on the shelf. Ukai got a tender look on his face for his wife and it made Hinata happy to see it. Ukai was getting everything out of life he’d wanted, which was exactly what Hinata planned to do for himself one day.

In the photograph the kids, the current Karasuno team, were all in swim trunks, tanned or in some cases burned, and the water and sun were behind them. They looked ridiculous hanging all over one another and clearly laughing and not at all trying to pose from what Hinata could see. They also looked really young and Hinata marvelled at it, trying to make his own memories of his time at Karasuno match up with what he saw in the picture. Had they ever been that young?

Takeda brought him out of his reverie by offering bowls of miso to those who’d been overindulgent the night before. He did this without a word because he was too nice to call them out in front of the group. A group which had grown since Hinata began working his way through his first cup of coffee.

Asahi and Nishinoya were across the way filling bowls with rice to be transferred to the table and Nishinoya offered Hinata a wave. Asahi was talking to Ukai, but Noya was waggling his eyebrows at Hinata when no one was looking. He could feel his cheeks starting to burn from the obvious innuendo.

Hinata gestured for Noya to stop, but all it accomplished was Tanaka joining in. He was going to flip them off when Daichi and Sugawara came in. Everyone turned and clapped, Tanaka cheered and Ukai whistled.

“Shut the hell up, all of you,” Daichi said gruffly, blushing slightly while Suga flushed deeply and looked down. Of course they both broke out in huge grins so no one could take Daichi too seriously.

“Haha, you embarrassed or something, Daichi? I have to say, it’s a good look on you,” said Nishinoya, laughing.

“I’ll have you know that I am not embarrassed, I’m just-,” Daichi started.

“Just what? A strawberry or something? ‘Cause you’re pretty red dude,” said Tanaka, high-fiving Noya as they snickered.

“That didn’t even make sense!” Daichi argued. Sugawara was already off helping set the table, ignoring the whole thing.

“Yeah it did!” Nishinoya said.

“You can all be Prom Queen this year, just chill out, jeez,” Tsukishima. “Food is ready so let’s eat.”

“That sounds like a fantastic idea!” Tanaka agreed, easily giving up on needling Daichi in favor of food. He must have been really hungry, Hinata thought, because he’d normally jump at the chance to bicker with Tsukishima.

“Let’s carry out the food. Come on Kei,” Yamaguchi called after Tsukishima who immediately stood from the stool he had been sitting on while watching the drama.

Breakfast was much more subdued than dinner was the night before. Ukai ate quietly while they pitched ideas back and forth across the table between bites before interrupting them with a half raised hand. Hinata leaned back, patting his stomach happily.

“We don’t have to choose one thing, I was thinking we might split into groups. We have three cars among us.” Ukai crossed his arms and grinned. “Anyone going shopping downtown, you’re with me.”

“Asahi mentioned the Yunoishino Shrine yesterday,” Daichi offered. I looked it up and I think I’d like to see it too.”

“Perfect. What else?” Ukai asked.

Hinata bounced his feet under the table and Sugawara glanced over before nudging him gently with an elbow. “I kind of wanted to see the gorge. My mom kept sending me pictures of it and I think she won me over.”

“I think that would be fantastic,” Takeda said.

“Alright, I think those are good places to start. Unless there’s anything else?” No one said anything so they all began being sorted. Takeda was taking Hinata, Kageyama, and Ennoshita to the gorge. Daichi and Asahi were visiting the shrine, while Ukai was taking the rest into town for shopping. They’d all meet up for lunch before coming back to the house.

“I’m so excited!” Hinata was following Kageyama to the kitchen as everyone helped clear the table.

Daichi and Ennoshita were washing and drying at the sink so HInata handed over his bowl and turned to see what else he could help with. Just as he was crossing back into the dining room, the lights flickered, then cut out. The sun kept it from being dark, though there were a couple of surprised sounds from the group, then the lights were back on. Hinata glanced around for Kageyama who shrugged from the kitchen doorway.

“What was that?” Tanaka asked.

“Brownout. The wind might be picking up outside.” Ukai said, unconcerned.

“I’ll pull up the weather just to be sure.” Takeda left and Hinata could hear the television coming on in the other room.

He and Nishinoya continued clearing the table as the group dispersed to get dressed. Hopefully Kageyama was going to keep grinning fondly at him and not tease him too much about buying into his mother’s gorge propaganda.

“You should call Natsu now, while we have time and one of us is remembering,” Kageyama told him.

Hinata nodded and padded into the living room where he dropped down into a chair, the tv a faded buzz in the background. He pulled out his phone and hit the button to call Natsu, only vaguely aware that Kageyama had joined him, sitting on the stuffed arm of his chair. At first he got a busy signal which is something he couldn’t remember ever hearing on his cell. So he called back and this time the call didn’t even try to connect. He had two bars, so he held the phone above his head, carefully watching the screen to see if it made any changes to connectivity. Nothing.

“The cell service here sucks,” he muttered.

Kageyama laid his hand on his arm, but he was still trying to get the right angle for his phone. Natsu was going to ream him if they didn’t talk this morning. She was way worse about it than their mom.

“Hinata.” Kageyama’s voice was low, but urgent.

“Just a sec,” Hinata told him, dialing again and getting a busy signal.

“Oi, dumbass.” Kageyama tugged at his arm until he looked up.

“Oh my god, what?” Hinata finally looked up to see everyone was standing around the living room now, watching the television. “What’s happening?” he asked, a lump forming in his throat.

“Some kind of disaster,” replied Ennoshita, eyes glued to the TV.

“A mudslide.” countered Sugawara, a look of disappointment in his eyes.

“Three mudslides.” said Tsukishima.

“The road washed out.” Nishinoya added.

“In several places.” Tsukishima supplied. “They’re asking people to stay off the highway.”

Hinata sank back into his chair in disappointment as the reporter droned on. He hated the news. He hated the mud slides. He hated the cell service here. It all made him feel very grumpy and very much not the sophisticated adult he wanted to be.

“Road crews will be working around the clock to reopen the main highway…” Hinata stopped listening and turned to Ukai. His face had a pale cast to it HInata wasn’t sure he’d ever seen.

“How are we supposed to get home tomorrow?” he asked.

Ukai heaved a sigh before answering. “I don’t think it’s as bad as all that. The whole road isn’t washed away, only a few edges here and there. They just want to be sure everything is safe before they allow the regular traffic through. See?” Ukai pointed at the screen again so Hinata paid attention.

There were cars, emergency vehicles, getting through. Hinata hadn’t noticed he’d tensed up, but the tension left as quickly as it came and he slumped, relieved. This didn’t escape Kageyama’s notice because he laid a steadying hand on HInata’s shoulder. Hinata couldn’t have explained it then, if he’d tried, but the idea that they were trapped, even for a small time, gave him the strangest feeling in his gut. Like the way he used to feel before a match in high school. Like he might need to run to the toilet at any moment. He took a cleansing breath, glad to be free of the feeling, and looked up at Kageyama.

“Guess we’re not seeing the gorge after all, huh?” Hinata asked.

“Not this trip, but maybe next time.” Kageyama smiled reassuringly.

“Next time,” Hinata agreed.

“Just in case, why don’t we all make a few calls to let people know we might run late getting home.” Ukai suggested.

There were some grumbles from the group, but they all agreed and split up so as not to bother one another on their phones. Hinata pulled his out, but frowned at it, remembering he couldn’t get a good signal only minutes before.

“See if you can get a call out on your phone. I think I need to restart mine,” Hinata held the power button down on his cell as Kageyama pulled up his mom’s number. After a few tries and his phone informing him that there wasn't any service, he switched to calls on wifi, but soon found that there was no connection there either.

“No, I don’t think it's just you, mine doesn’t work either,” Kageyama said with a huff.

“Sorry guys, I think something’s interrupting cell service. Probably everyone out here trying to do the same thing we are.” Ukai said, coming back into the living room. “Internet’s never been that great up here either.”

Hinata was beginning to get that feeling again. Twisting, below his ribs.

Tsukishima passed by and opened his mouth as if to say something, but Yamaguchi tugged him along by the hand and they were down the hall arguing quietly so Hinata couldn’t hear what was being said.

The house grew quiet and tense. Everyone broke away in twos and threes, no one really saying much of anything. Ukai was going through his grandfather's things in the attic because he thought he remembered a satellite phone and Daichi and Kageyama were helping him. That left Hinata alone trying not to focus on much of anything because he didn’t want to give himself an upset stomach if he could help it.

“Hey,” Sugawara said as he sat on the sofa opposite from Hinata. “Asahi and I found some cards, do you want to play something?”

Hinata hadn’t realized how much time had passed until he moved to climb out of the curled up position he’d taken in the chair and his muscles cramped. He yawned and stretched and blinked as Asahi took a seat next to Sugawara. He didn’t feel much like playing cards but it was probably better than moping by himself all morning.

“Sure,” he agreed.

Asahi shuffled the cards as they watched. Hinata was fairly impressed with how dexterous he was. Long fingers, that was key. Hinata couldn’t shuffle cards if his life depended on it. It was so bad that Kageyama banned him from even trying anymore because he’d bend the cards too much and ruin them. Every time. Sugawara dealt them their cards and they began to play, though it took a few rounds before Hinata really loosened up. More specifically, it took him losing two hands before his competitive nature got the best of him and he forgot how disappointed he was that they weren’t going sightseeing.

“I won’t lose to you!” Asahi teased him, but it was Sugawara who was getting the best of both of them.

Suga preened and flapped his hand of cards under his chin like a fan. “I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not.” He told them with a grin.

“You’re mean!” Hinata informed him, but Asahi was already laughing which got Hinata to giggling too.

“I’m talented and kind and you both adore me.” Sugawara pretended to ignore all of the laughing as he played his round.

Hinata came in third, which didn’t really surprise him, though he’d not admit as much out loud, and Sugawara won of course since he was creaming them both from the start.

“Please hold your applause,” Sugawara told them, holding up his hand benevolently.

Asahi hit him on the arm with a throw pillow which was what started an impromptu pillow fight that Takeda had to break up. He was going on about being responsible adults when the lights flickered again. This time it took nearly three minutes for them to come back on.

Kageyama found him as the lights came back on. “Any luck?” Hinata asked.

Kageyama shook his head. “No. Ukai was pretty sure it was there, but the attic is packed full of boxes and old furniture and he’s never gone through it all.

“Ah,” Hinata sighed.

“I’m sure i’ll be fine. Once things settle down, the phones should be working again. In the meantime Ennoshita was telling me he’d once read that in emergencies when calls aren’t getting through, sometimes texts will, so you should text your parents and Natsu. I’ve texted my mom, but she hasn’t replied yet.” Kageyama sounded relaxed about it, which continued to soothe Hinata’s nerves.

He did as suggested and sent a text to his mom and Natsu explaining the situation and assuring them he and Kageyama were fine and would be hopefully headed home tomorrow. His mother didn’t reply, but she might be out running errands since it was the weekend. She was probably out shopping with Natsu and neither one of them were bothered by not hearing from him. If they weren’t worried, he shouldn’t be either. Besides, he’d tried. He could try again later, too.

In the time it took to send the texts, Kageyama disappeared in the direction of their room, so Hinata followed and found him slumped on the end of the bed, eyes closed. He was sweaty from working in the hot attic, but Hinata didn’t think it was the heat alone that was bothering him.

“Hey,” Hinata sat next to him, bumping their shoulders together. “What’s going on?”

Kageyama didn’t answer right away. Hinata watched him from the corner of his eyes and he didn’t move a muscle. So Hinata waited. He watched a squirrel skitter across a low branch just outside the window before it hopped up and up, vanishing above Hinata’s view. The wind picked up for a moment, agitating the leaves in a great gust before dying away to an easy sway once more. Somewhere Nishinoya was laughing, but still Hinata waited.

When Kageyama spoke up, his voice was heavy and slow. “This isn’t really how I imagined this weekend. I know it’s not what you were thinking either. I’m sorry. We could have gone somewhere romantic for our first getaway as a, a couple, but--”

“We were both excited to come see everyone! You don’t have to apologize for that! Plus it’s been fun, mostly, don’t you think? I don’t need some fancy hotel somewhere to have fun with you.” Hinata turned and took Kageyama’s hand between his own.

“I know. I know you don’t. Even so…” his voice faded and he looked away, out the window.

Hinata followed his gaze. “Maybe we can slip away tonight, early. We can play cards and eat our dessert in here, or sit outside or go for a walk!” Hinata was bouncing slightly by the end of his sentence. Now that he thought about it, that was probably exactly what Kageyama was going on about, they hadn’t had any time alone and they were stuck in the house with everyone else, at least for another night.

Kageyama was smiling lopsidedly. “How do you do that?” He asked, turning Hinata’s hands over in his own and tracing the lines of his palm with his finger.

“Do what? Read you like a book, finish your sentences, all of that?” Hinata asked flippantly.

“Yeah, all of that. When did you get so good at that?” Kageyama leaned closer as though to examine Hinata’s face for some elusive answer.

It made Hinata laugh and shake his head. “Probably our third year in high school. You lost your mystery.” Hinata teased, but Kageyama was still grinning and now he leaned a little closer.

“Third year, huh? I don’t think I lost all my mystery, though, have I?” Kageyama was barely speaking now, his voice a light whisper across Hinata’s cheeks.

“Maybe not,” Hinata breathed.

He wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, so close he could see the little variations of color in the deep blue of Kageyama’s eyes. He thought, for just a moment, Kageyama was going to kiss him, and he did, but only on the cheek. He stayed close though, his cheek pressed to Hinata’s and they leaned into each other in the silence of the room. For that little moment everything was perfect. For the first time since they’d moved into this kind of relationship together, Hinata wasn’t afraid of that first kiss. It was coming, soon, and he was excited for it. Even if it was still hard to fully grasp.

Later, Daichi knocked on the door with a tray of sandwiches and a couple of bottles of tea. They ate on the private porch off their room and soaked up the peace that settled between them and the sunshine as it filtered through the pines. The day wasn’t overly warm, so it was nice, the sky clear and blue. Above them the comet was a white streak watching over them.

Around four o’clock, Ukai organized a volleyball game, and everyone helped put the net up in the backyard. They split into two teams to begin with, but they kept switching so many times that eventually they stopped keeping track of who was on which team. After a couple of matches, even Takeda decided to join in, going on and on about how he totally knew what he was doing. He did not, but it was fun to watch him try apply his theories anyway.

Kageyama and Hinata stayed on different teams at first, but by the end of two games, they were on the same team again, yelling about who was earning more points and laughing. Yamaguchi proudly served at least once every game and Tsukishima praised him each time. Sugawara and Daichi played a round and then sat together to watch from the sidelines.

Playing had restored everyone’s moods, so after taking turns in the showers, they were all gathered back in the kitchen helping with dinner, talking and laughing like themselves again. Hinata was in charge of rice this time and Kageyama was setting the table with Ennoshita and Yamaguchi.

“You and Kageyama seem really happy. Everyone’s noticed.” Sugawara whispered. He was pan grilling fish, but he gave Hinata a quick smile.

“We are,” Hinata smiled back. He could feel his cheeks getting warm.

“It’s also pretty obvious that you’re not quite used to it.” Sugawara said.

Hinata pressed his lips together and tried not to feel too embarrassed. Sugawara was right, he wasn’t used to it yet and he was pretty sure Kageyama wasn’t either. Then again, there was that almost kiss earlier, that was almost really awesome.

“It’s okay. You guys have been friends a long time. It makes sense that the change would take time. Daichi and I took a long time too and Nishinoya and Asahi are still navigating the complexities of what they share. You don’t have to do anything, just keep being yourself and give it time. You’ll both feel more comfortable after a while. I promise. Remember, he’s still your best friend.” Sugawara said all of this very quietly then reached over to pat Hinata’s arm. “We all just want you both to be happy. You’ve got lots of support here, always.”

“Thank you,” Hinata told him, just as softly. It meant the world to Hinata to know they had such amazing friends.

“There, now. Your helper is ready for the rice.” Sugawara pointed behind Hinata where Tsukishima stood with a stack of bowls ready to be filled. Hinata nodded and got to work.

Kageyama sat them next to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, across from Tanaka and Nishinoya, toward the end of the long table. Everyone was still in good spirits and Ukai served them all plum wine his wife sent for their last night together. They chatted about the future for a while, but with the alcohol pouring it wasn’t long until they were reminiscing about the past and their time together in high school.

“We should all share a story about someone else. Something that the rest of us might not know.” Tanaka proposed over dessert.

“Yes!” Nishinoya called, followed by that entire side of the table. Tsukishima was the first and last no, so he was outvoted.

“I’ll go first, since it was my idea and I have the best story. About Nishinoya!” They all groaned but Tanaka went right into it.

“Okay so this happened in third year.” Tanaka began.

“No.” Nishinoya interrupted. “You promised. We were never going to speak of it!”

Tanaka laughed but kept going. “So there was this big graduation party some of the kids in our class were throwing, but it was at midnight and neither of us had permission to go.”

Nishinoya groaned and dropped his head into his hands. Hinata was already laughing imagining what they’d gotten up to.

“Of course we had to go because we’d never been to a high school party like that. So we planned to spend the night together and sneak out. That part went just fine. We stayed at Yu’s place because his bedroom was on the first floor and we just slipped out once everyone was asleep. The problem was, we couldn’t find the party. Yu swore he knew where this kid lived, but he had us wandering around the neighborhood in the middle of the night for almost an hour!”

“It was thirty minutes, tops!” Nishinoya argued.

Tanka ignored the protests. “Almost an hour, right? So finally we give up, go to the convenience store and grab a bunch of snacks. Yu buys about half the store and as we’re trying to climb back in he drops his soda and it explodes everywhere and wakes his parents. They catch us half way into his room, Yu’s shirt soaked through and dripping, his ass hanging out the window, pink undies and all because his shorts were caught on the ledge! And that’s how we both got grounded for sneaking out to a party we never went to.” Tanaka finished with a flourish and raised his glass to Nishinoya.

“We are no longer friends,” Nishinoya told him. Everyone was laughing. “And they were pink because I washed a red pair with the whites by accident, I’ll have you know!”

“His mom couldn’t look him in the face all the next day!” Tanaka added, roaring.

“Okay, enough, who’s next?” Nishinoya flapped his hands around until Ennoshita rescued him.

They went around the table just like that, everyone telling stories on everyone else and when it was time for Kageyama’s turn, Hinata was sure he’d tell one about him. Instead, he picked one about Tsukishima. One Hinata didn’t know.

Hinata didn’t have any reason to be jealous. He knew he didn’t. There had never been anything other than rivalry and friendship between Kageyama and Tsukishima, but it brought back memories. The end of second year and most of third were particularly difficult for him and Kageyama. Both of them had dated others, Hinata only dated Kenma, but Kageyama had a couple of girls he tried taking out, and all of that caused a lot of tension between them. Neither of them thought they could admit how they really felt for each other, so when Tsukishima and Kageyama got closer, Hinata was sure it would end their friendship. It didn’t, but the memory of the way he’d felt, it was still there, even after all this time. Even though he knew now that Kageyama had only wanted to be with him.

Hinata felt himself withdraw from the conversation, but he couldn’t stop it. They passed over him and finished with Daichi’s story about Tanaka and the discussion moved to whether or not to pull out Ukai’s board games.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Kageyama asked as a couple of people got up to hunt down the games.

“Nothing.” Hinata told him. He hated being petty and this was childish too. Which he hated even more.

“It was the story I told, I know that much, but I don’t know why.” Kageyama moved his chair closer and leaned in. “You expected me to tell one about you and I didn’t.” He guessed. Hinata nodded.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t even think about how you might take that.” he whispered.

“It’s dumb. I know it’s dumb, but that wasn’t a great time for us, so to hear about how much fun you and Tsukishima were having--”

“I was miserable! Tsukishima was just distracting me by being a shit all the time while I was trying to deal with how I felt about you and the fact that you didn’t seem to have the same feelings for me.” Kageyama put his hand around Hinata’s wrist, squeezing tight. “You know this.”

Hinata did know and he would have said as much, but the lights cut out plunging the dining room into complete darkness and for just a moment he panicked. There was scuffling around him and Ukai telling them all not to worry, he had candles, just hold still. They did. Kageyama slung an arm around Hinata’s shoulders and kissed the top of his head as they waited.

“I knew this was going to happen.” Tsukishima was murmuring on the other side of Kageyama.

“No you didn’t.” Yamaguchi argued.

“Well I was warned, anyway.” Tsukishima grumbled

Hinata was trying to ignore them. He didn’t want to think that this had anything to do with the comet.

“We found the candles, and some glow sticks too. We’ve got red, blue, orange or green. Which do you guys want?” asked Ukai.

“Orange!” They answered in unison and then a smattering of nervous laughter broke out around them. Ukai cut open the box of orange glow sticks and Takeda sat the unopened boxes on a nearby shelf.

Ennoshita and Tanaka passed them around until everyone had a glow stick hanging from their neck. Hinata felt a little better then, but soon the candles started to flare up as Sugawara lit them one by one and placed them around the room so there was a warm orange tint lighting their faces. That felt safer still, though Hinata hadn’t yet let go of Kageyama.

“We should see if it’s just us or the whole neighborhood,” Ukai announced. He was peering out of the dining room window, but Hinata knew it would be difficult to see out that way. They’d have to go out the front to the street. Just the idea of it made him squirm in his seat. It didn’t help that Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were whispering on the other side of the table and it didn’t look like they were agreeing on whatever they were talking about.

“I’ll go too,” Takeda added, standing from his chair.

“Me too,” Nishinoya chimed in.

“I don’t know, what if it’s the whole street?” Asahi asked.

“Then it’s the whole street,” Noya shrugged, but Hinata could tell it was making Asahi uncomfortable.

“Why don’t we all go, I’ll bet that comet looks amazing without all the lights interfering.” Tanaka looked around at all of them expectantly. Hinata caught a dark look cross Tsukishima’s face and it made him hesitate. Kageyama was standing up though, and Hinata wanted to be wherever he was.

“Alright, we’ll all go get a look down the street and at the comet.” Ukai agreed, leading the way to the door.

He held it open for them all as they stepped out one by one and walked the short path to the street. It was easy to see that the houses around them were all dark from the blackout. Hinata linked his arm with Kageyama’s, to the side, as everyone filed out to look. He could see the comet, as predicted, it was much brighter without any lights to detract from it. If he weren’t nervous about it at all, he would say it was beautiful. Stunningly so. Terrible beauty, he thought, leaning against Kageyama even more.

“So, no lights, except, down there, about four houses down.” Ukai was rubbing his temple.

“They must have a generator.” Daichi crossed his arms over his chest.

“Do you think they might have a landline?” Ennoshita asked. If they did, maybe they could get word out that they were okay, just sort of stuck until the roads opened. Hinata looked up at Kageyama who seemed to be coming to the same conclusion.

“We’ll go ask.” Ukai decided.

“All of us?” Asahi was standing back in the yard watching apprehensively. Hinata couldn’t blame him, this whole business was eerie.

“No, that’s not necessary. Why don’t all of you go back inside. I have a generator too, we just need to get it up and running.” Ukai waved them back in, but there was a hesitation that ran through the crowd.

“I’m going too,” Nishinoya informed him, stepping out onto the street. In the darkness their faces glowed orange from the glowsticks around their necks.

“That’s not necessary…” Ukai tried to say again, but was interrupted.

“I’ll go too, that way, if they do have a landline, we can make a couple of calls and we won’t be sending the whole crew down to your neighbor’s house. Our families can help us back home calling around for everyone, I still have my contact list from when I was captain.” Ennoshita explained.

“Thank you,” Hinata breathed. That would be one less thing he had to worry about.

“Fine. Then the three of us will go. Takeda, you organize getting the generator going.”

“Will do.” Takeda said. He was all business now, leaning toward Daichi and telling him he’d need someone to hold a flashlight.

Everyone wished them luck and headed back for the house. Only Asahi was completely silent, even when Nishinoya did his best to be reassuring with promises to come right back. Though Tsukishima may as well have been silent too. He was still whispering something to Yamaguchi. Hinata glanced again at the starry sky before following the rest of the gang back into the house.

Asahi was guiding them in, then closed and locked the door once everyone was inside. He didn’t move to follow them into the living room.

“What’s up?” Hinata asked softly. Kageyama was going to help Takeda and Daichi so Hinata stopped, looking up at Asahi. His face was drawn, his eyes much more serious than Hinata was used to them being off the volleyball court.

“I’m going to wait here for them. So I can open the door quickly when they get back.” Asahi told him. He wasn’t looking at Hinata when he talked, but out the window next to the door. Even though it was made from the type of mottled glass you couldn’t really see through.

“Oh. Okay,” Hinata said. It didn’t feel okay. It felt a little like Asahi knew something Hinata should know. Or the whole group should know. But that might have just been his own frayed nerves, so Hinata left it at that and took a spot on the sofa with Tsuki and Yamaguchi.

They sat in silence now, and Hinata couldn’t help but think about just how silent things could be out here away from the city. There was no electric hum, no circulation of air, no cars outside, just the breathing of his companions around him and the tense movements of Asahi as he shuffled around in front of the door.

As he waited and listened there came a jumbled sound at the back door, which was technically a side door that connected the dining room to the yard that wrapped around the house. Hinata jumped and so did Yamaguchi beside him.

“No one move!” Sugawara urged them quietly. He himself stood and crept toward the corner where he could peer around to the sliding glass door. It was curtained, but he could probably see if someone was there. Hinata wasn’t at all proud of himself but he grabbed Yamaguchi’s hand and squeezed hard. Luckily Yamaguchi was of the same mind and just held on harder as they waited.

“Do you see anything?” Tsukishima whispered, but Suga cut him off with his hand. Then he disappeared around the corner. It sounded like shuffling for a moment, as if someone was on the porch. Hinata was holding his breath; terrified. Only a second later and the lights came back on and his body flooded with relief.

Sugawara came back, one hand over his heart, his chest heaving.

“What was it?” Hinata asked.

“Who was it?” Tanaka asked at the same time.

“I thought I saw someone run away, but they were gone by the time I got to the door and locked it.” Sugawara told them as he flopped into one of the chairs.

Kageyama came back in then, grinning, followed by Daichi and Takeda. “Let there be light,” he joked, squeezing in between the arm of the couch and Hinata.

Daichi caught the tense atmosphere of the room first and asked, “What happened? What’s wrong?”

“There was someone at the back door.” Tanaka told him.

Sugawara nodded and Kageyama’s mouth fell open.

“Not Ukai?” Takeda asked. “Are you certain?”

Sugawara leaned forward, still visibly shaken. “I really didn’t see who it was, but whoever it was ran off so I’m sure it wasn’t Ukai or anyone we know. They tried the door though, right before they bolted. I locked it.”

Hinata’s heart was beating painfully, but it was okay. They were locked in. Kageyama had an arm around his shoulders again, and they were all safe. He didn’t feel safe, but he was doing the best he could to keep himself together.

“Maybe they realized they were in the wrong yard,” Daichi offered. Ennoshita seconded that idea, but Takeda was watching Asahi at the front door so Hinata couldn’t tell what his opinion was.

“I think they’re back!” Asahi’s voice was strained. “Yeah, it’s them!”

“Be sure!” Suga urged.

“I am!” Asahi threw open the door and Ukai, Nishinoya, and Ennoshita come streaking in.

All of them are out of breath and Nishinoya was carrying a metal box. He dropped it down on the coffee table, then raked his fingers through his hair, pulling at it anxiously.

Asahi locked the door again before tugging Nishinoya into a sideways hug. Before anyone can ask anything, however, Ukai rounded on Nishinoya and Ennoshita tried to stand between them. Ukai has a cut on his forehead and he looks frightened. Hinata has never seen that look on his face and it send a cold shot of fear right into his gut.

“What the hell were you thinking picking that thing up?” He was almost yelling.

“I thought I saw you drop it!” Nishinoya was just as loud.

“I didn’t drop anything, it’s not mine!” Ukai covered his face with his hands for a moment.

“Hey, hey, what happened, what’s going on right now?” Daichi moved in next to Ennoshita and Ukai turned around in circle, his hands going up in the air.

“I--” Ukai started but Nishinoya jumped in.

“He disappeared around the corner of that house and I was trying to keep up. I swear I saw him drop this box on the lawn so I grabbed it and ran after him, but when we got around the corner he was running away so we had to chase him all the way back here!” Nishinoya was shaking so Asahi pushed him down into a chair.

“It happened just like that. We never even made it up to the front door and Ukai won’t say what he saw that had him running back to the house.” Ennoshita added. His arms were crossed and he was squeezing himself tightly. “He also won’t say how he got hurt.”

“I’m fine, there were some bushes, okay? I didn’t see anything important, I just think we scared them and I didn’t know what they might do.” Ukai was telling them this with his back to the room. He was watching the front door, Hinata realized.

“That’s it. You're sure?” Takeda asked, his voice wavering.

Ukai turned back but he didn’t offer anything more.

Nishinoya was glaring at him, but Asahi seemed to be keeping a hand on his shoulder so he wouldn’t stand back up. It was scary. Hinata had never seen anyone so angry with their former coach. Except maybe Ukai’s grandfather. Never one of them, never Nishinoya.

“We should look in it.” Tsukishima spoke up for the first time since the lights cut out.

“No way. We’re taking it back, it’s not ours.” Ukai was adamant on this point. So much so that he made a move for the box. Only Tsukishima’s hand on the lid stopped him from grabbing it.

“I want to see what’s in it, since it’s apparently so important and secretive,” Nishinoya leaned forward, toward the table.

“Wait!” Ukai made to move forward again, but this time Tsukishima pulled the box onto his lap.

For a moment, Hinata swore they were all holding their breath together. The room just stopped. It wasn’t silent like before, it was empty, like a void. Then Tsukishima clicked open the catch and swung the lid back off the top, opening the box like a suitcase.

They were all leaning forward now, everyone but Ukai who was pacing to the side, rubbing at the back of his head. Nishinoya was off the chair, kneeling on the opposite side of the coffee table. Sugawara was standing with Daichi and no one could speak as Tsukishima began pulling things out of the box. At first, Hinata wasn’t even sure he could tell what he was looking at. Pictures. Playing cards.

“What the fuck?” Tanaka was the first to break the stillness of the room, but his question was echoed all around.

Tsukishima leaned out and sat the box on the table. Then he began passing the pictures to Nishinoya who laid them out on the table for everyone to see. Hinata peered at the pictures in horror. It looked like pictures of all of them attached with paper clips to the backs of playing cards, and under each picture, their names were written. There was a whole stack of them and also a baseball for some reason. Hinata could care less about the baseball. What his brain refused to understand was what the strangers down the street were doing with this box filled with their pics.

“It’s all of us. All of us that are here tonight.” Kageyama sounded as confused and afraid as Hinata felt.

“Plus one of Kiyoko,” Takeda pointed out.

“What the fuck? Why?” Tanaka clapped a hand over his mouth so he’d stop asking the same question.

“Okay, nobody panic. We don’t know what we’re looking at,” Daichi tried to keep everything calm, but it was obvious they were all having similar reactions as they spread out the cards across the table.

“Uh, it’s pretty clear to me those people are up to something! Why else would they have these? How do they have these?” Nishinoya asked.

“I don’t like it. We shouldn’t have looked.” Asahi wrung his hands together.

“Well what are we going to do? Take it back and pretend we don’t know something weird is going on?” Kageyama asked.

“We need to figure out what the cards mean.” Yamaguchi said. His voice was small sounding after all the yelling. It made everyone stop arguing, though, and listen.

“See? Each of our pictures are on the back of a playing card. It has to mean something. Like a puzzle, or a code.” He flipped a couple of them over to show everyone.

“What, like a game?” Ennoshita shook his head.

“Pretty sick game, if you ask me.” Tanaka said.

“No. He’s right. We should figure out what this means. It could be important.” Tsukishima said, solemnly.

“And then we take it back.” Ukai told them. “I don’t want it here, whatever it means.”

“Agreed.” Tsukishima leaned out and looked at everyone. “Let’s move to the dining table. Bring some paper.”

The group moved to the dining room, though only a handful of them actually sat.

“I need a drink,” Ukai told them plainly. His voice was hollow to Hinata’s ears. Haunted.

“I’m with you,” Takeda sighed.

Daichi and Sugawara followed the with a backward glance at the table. “We’ll be right back. I want to make sure Ukai is okay.” Daichi told them.

Ennoshita paced while the rest of them sat. Hinata was put in charge of notes. He had a spiral notebook from the sideboard and an old box of markers Yamaguchi had remembered seeing with the games. So Hinata pulled out a blue one and began to write.

“Okay,” Yamaguchi held up the first card. “I’m on the back of the Four of Clubs and you, Hinata, are on the Ten of Spades.” He laid them carefully on the table in front of them, the pictures facing up.

“Got it,” Hinata told him. He had a list now of their names and would fill in the card next to each one as they went.

“Here,” Asahi was passing out water bottles, starting with a still out of breath Nishinoya. Hinata gladly took one. His tongue felt hot and dry, even though the rest of him was chilled enough to shiver.

“Then we have Sugawara on the Ace of Diamonds, Takeda the Three of Clubs, and Asahi on the Seven of Spades.” Yamaguchi waited as he situated the cards in a tidy row.

“Okay,” Hinata nodded once he’d taken them all down.

“This is too weird,” Tanaka said.

No one had a reply to that, but Hinata was sure they were all thinking the same thing. Yamaguchi continued to read out the cards and lay them in a long line so that everyone could see clearly. Daichi on the King of Clubs, Ukai on the Queen of Spades. Nishinoya the Jack of Hearts, Ennoshita the King of Spades, Tanaka the Three of Hearts. Kageyama was stuck on the back of the Nine of Hearts and Tsukishima was on the Eight of Diamonds. Finally there was Kiyoko on the Queen of Diamonds. Yamaguchi had Hinata read back through the list to double check them.

They all paused to look, uncertain, and wondering, as the rest of the group filed back in and stood around the table. Hinata slid the notebook over so the list was easy to see next to the cards. Kageyama and Tsukishima both had twin looks of appraisal on their faces and Hinata was relieved to find he couldn’t feel any of the jealousy from earlier. He didn’t have the space in his head for that kind of nonsense, especially now.

_Hinata - Ten of Spades_  
_Kageyama - Nine of Hearts_  
 _Tsukishima - Eight of Diamonds_  
 _Yamaguchi - Four of Clubs_  
 _Daichi - King of Clubs_  
 _Sugawara - Ace of Diamonds_  
 _Asahi - Seven of Spades_  
 _Nishinoya - Jack of Hearts_  
 _Tanaka - Three of Hearts_  
 _Ennoshita - King of Diamonds_  
 _Ukai - Queen of Spades_  
 _Takeda - Three of Clubs_  
 _Kiyoko - Queen of Diamonds_

“Maybe they have a symbolic meaning. Like Daichi there, on the King of Clubs. He was the captain in the first year you were all on the team together.” Takeda suggested.

“It could be. Or like tarot? I had an aunt that was really into that. She said the cards were originally meant to be used that way.” Asahi added. “I can’t remember any of the meanings, though.”

“I’m not sure it’s very flattering that I’m the Queen of Spades.” Ukai grumbled. His cut was under a bandage now, so at least that had been taken care of.

“It might be,” Yamaguchi was leaning ever closer as he spoke.

“Try arranging them by suit and see if it makes any more sense.” Tsukishima said decidedly. Yamaguchi nodded and began rearranging their pictures. Once they were organized again everyone fell quiet, thinking.

“I recognize this picture,” Kageyama said, pointing to the one of Hinata. “Both of these, in fact.” He included his as well.

“Oh yeah,” Hinata agreed. “They do look familiar.”

“They look familiar because I took them. Right after graduation when you two came to meet my fiancée. In fact…” And here he disappeared out of the room.

Hinata and Kageyama were both staring at each other in shock. Ukai was only gone a couple of minutes and when he returned he had a box labeled, _photos_ , in his arms. He sat it on the other end of the table then pulled out a pocket knife to cut open the seal. Hinata watched him with growing apprehension. If their pictures really were in there, then how did the people down the way have a copy?

“Kiyomi sent up a truckload of things last month to start making room for the baby. Ah! Here, look!” He passed the photos over and sure enough, there were the pictures of Kageyama and Hinata, though these weren’t cut small like the ones on the cards.

“This is freaking me out,” Tanaka groaned.

“I think I have some of the others too, come to think of it.” Ukai sorted through the box while they waited and watched.

He did, in fact. He had everyone but Asahi, Daichi, and Sugawara in the box.

“There are more, but I don’t know if they’re up here yet. I don’t think I know those,” he was pointing at Daichi and Sugawara who in turn exchanged a pointed look with one another.

“That’s because they're in our wallets.” Sugawara admitted.

“I’ll run get them,” Daichi said quietly.

The group waited again, talking and tossing around ideas about the significance of the cards. Hinata’s head hurt, trying to imagine how these people had their pictures, private pictures that weren’t online even, and what it all might mean. It was scary, that’s what he knew. All of this was scary and it made no sense. Really it was more like something out of a horror flick than real life. Hinata wasn’t a huge fan of scary movies because he couldn’t help but think he’d never actually survive one. Not with his temper or his uncanny ability to run into danger every time.

Before Daichi got back, Nishinoya gasped and they all turned to him, expectantly.

“I just realized why I couldn’t place that picture of you, Azumane. It was taken here. Tonight.” Noya pointed to the picture and the all looked closer.

“See the shirt, and the hair?” Hinata did. He glanced back and forth between the picture and Asahi, as did everyone else. It was the same shirt he was wearing, the same part to his hair. He’d recently cut it so it fell just at his shoulders in loose waves and that was exactly how it looked in the picture.

“Oh my god,” Hinata breathed.

“No.” Asahi said, shaking his head. His eyes were wide. “I’d remember if anyone took my picture tonight. No one has.”

“Are you sure man, because it looks like they did, look!” Tanaka took him by the shoulders and maneuvered him so his back was to the curve of windows. “See?” He held the picture up so they could all see.

It had to be. It was easy to see now that Ashai was standing right there. Those were Ukai’s windows behind him, the same curtains.

“But that’s a Polaroid. Who even has one any more?” Kageyama asked.

“I do.” Takeda admitted. “I brought it with me so I could take pictures of you all.”

“So did you take this when no one was looking or what?” Nishinoya’s voice was rising.

“Of course not! It’s not even unpacked or loaded! It still needs batteries!” Takeda raised his hands trying to reassure all of them. In the ensuing chaos, Asahi retreated from the window and shuddered as he passed Hinata to sit next to Nishinoya.

Takeda was so upset that he left to go get proof. When Daichi got back they had to catch him up. He was just as bewildered by it as all of them were. It got worse as he laid his and Sugawara’s pictures on the table with the others. Exact matches, both of them. This ignited another round of questions that made Hinata sag back in his chair, worried they weren’t getting anywhere as long as they were going to argue. When Takeda came back with his camera and proof, Hinata felt even smaller and more helpless.

“We need to know what Ukai saw. If he can tell us--” Nishinoya was saying.

Asahi stopped him. “He didn’t want to talk about it Yu.”

“But if he could tell us then we might have a better grasp of what we’re dealing with.” Nishinoya insited.

“You’re going to have to tell us. This shit is getting out of hand,” Tanaka sounded angry.

“You don’t want to know what I saw,” Ukai’s voice cracked.

“We need to know,” Takeda told him.

“We have to know,” Daichi added.

“I can’t… I’m not even sure…” Ukai was walking back and forth at the end of the table, not looking at any of them. Then he sank resolutely into a chair and put his head down into his hands.

“We’re here. We’re a team, right? We’ll figure it out together.” Ennoshita told him softly.

“Fine. I wasn’t going to say anything. I don’t think it’s going to help at all.” Ukai mumbled.

“That’s alright. We just need to have some sort of idea about what we’re dealing with,” Sugawara told him.

“Okay.” Ukai looked up at them all with a sigh. “I saw us.”

Hinata felt his mouth drop open in a gasp, but the rest of the group were already arguing again. Even Kageyama sounded angry. He wrapped his hand around Kageyama’s arm, holding him in place and trying to get him to calm back down, because surely that’s not what Ukai meant, right? He didn’t see them, not unless…

“Did you come back around to this house? Someone came by here, by the back and then ran off. Was that you?” Hinata asked.

Several others jumped on the idea as well, but Ukai was shaking his head. “Nishinoya, you were right behind me, could I have run all the way here and back before you rounded the corner and saw me coming toward you?”

“Nishinoya had his hands in the air as he was firing off questions, but now they dropped to the table with a thud. “No. There’s no way. You were only out of my sight a few seconds,” he confirmed.

“Exactly. I know what I saw.” Ukai told them.

“Okay, okay, but if it was just for a few seconds, can you be sure?” Takeda was walking toward Ukai, slowly, as though not to upset him. “What if in the stress of this, all of this, you only think you saw us? That happens to people in stressful situations. You saw a group of people and they looked a little like us, but it was dark and Nishinoya was calling for you and you got confused and it scared you so you ran. Maybe that’s not what you saw at all.”

“What about the pictures from the box? The box that Ukai swears he didn’t ever have?” Daichi reminded him.

“I have no idea about the pictures or the box,” Takeda deflated.

“Still, we need to stay calm and think rationally.” Daichi told them.

“We could write them a note!” Kageyama suggested.

“We could! We’ll keep it very simple, just tell them we’re sorry if we worried them and tell them we were looking for a phone. Something to that effect.” Takeda agreed.

Yamaguchi slid the notebook toward himself, but as he was writing there was a rustle at the front door.

“What was that?” Tanaka asked.

“This isn’t good,” Asahi insited. Hinata tended to agree. Nothing here was good.

“I’ll go,” Daichi offered, though Ukai stood and went with him. They all waited for a moment and Hinata almost jumped out of his skin when they heard the door open.

“It’s okay! Just a note!” Daichi called as they walked back to the dining room.

“What does it say? Takeda asked.

“It says, Sorry to bother you, didn’t mean to worry you, but we just wanted to know if your phone was working, and if we could borrow it for a few minutes. Thank you.” Ukai read it to them.

A combination of sighs and releases of held breaths circled the room, but Hinata noticed Yamaguchi had gone completely still and his face looked unnaturally pale.

“What?” Hinata asked him.

Tsukishima turned to him then too, worried.

“This,” he said, and he held up the piece of paper he had in front of him.

_ Sorry to bother you, didn’t mean to worry you, but we just wanted to know if your phone was working, and if we could borrow it for a few minutes. Thank you. _

That queasy, cramping, run to the toilet, feeling was back in Hinata’s stomach with a vengeance. He groaned and held himself as the room erupted in panicked arguing. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi walked out, leaving the note behind on the table where they all compared it to the note on the door. Hinata couldn’t control his fear then and he hated it. He was a fighter, dammit, but this was too much! No one even knew what was happening, but it felt like a nightmare. He urged himself to wake up already, wake up dumbass! But it was no use. No matter what he did, everything stayed the same and Hinata had to admit to himself that whatever it was, whatever was going on, it was really and truly happening.


	4. I'm Ten Thousand Leagues Beneath The Sea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, a wild update appears! Please hang on tight, this one gets bumpy.

That queasy, cramping, run to the toilet, feeling was back in Hinata’s stomach with a vengeance. He groaned and held himself as the room erupted in panicked arguing. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi walked out, leaving the note behind on the table where they all compared it to the note on the door. Hinata couldn’t control his fear then and he hated it. He was a fighter, dammit, but this was too much! No one even knew what was happening, but it felt like a nightmare. He urged himself to wake up already, wake up dumbass, but it was to no avail. No matter what he did, everything stayed the same and Hinata had to admit to himself that whatever it was, whatever was going on, it was really and truly happening.

Sugawara was the only voice of reason. “Enough!” The room went immediately quiet. “Better,” Suga told them. He smiled at them, but it was the smile of an irritated parent, one Hinata remembered both from his youth and his days at Karasuno.

“We aren’t getting anywhere like this. I’m calling a timeout. Go take a piss or punch a pillow or get another drink, Just break this shit up before we start turning on each other. In fifteen minutes we’re meeting back here and coming up with a sensible plan. Got it?” He looked at each of them in turn and they all agreed. “Good.” He said, then turned on his heel and left.

Only Hinata and Kageyama were left after the rest of the group dispersed. Yamaguchi and Tsukishima slipped back in and sat silently across from them. None of them felt much like drinking, and Hinata guessed Tsuki and Yamaguchi were busy working through ideas about the pictures on the cards still.

“You okay? I saw you grab your stomach. Do you need a break, too?” Kageyama whispered.

Hinata shook his head. “No, it hurt for a minute, but I’m okay. I want to stay and look at these cards some more.” He took a breath before adding, “And I want to know if Tsukishima thinks this is related to the comet.” At this he gave Tsukishima a pointed look. He and Yamaguchi were directly across from them, the cards between them. Tsukishima raised his chin, just enough to look defiant for a moment before giving in and answering.

“I do.” He said it quietly, under his breath. He didn’t look happy about it or smug the way he did sometimes when he believed he knew more about something than Hinata and Kageyama did. This was too serious for that, Hinata knew, and he was glad Tsukishima wasn’t going to waste time playing superiority complex with them.

“As far as I can tell, the effects began yesterday with Tanaka’s cracked phone and have progressively gotten worse. Ukai’s claim about the other house and seeing all of us? That’s not beyond the realm of possibility. I think the note is certainly proof enough to begin formulating a solid theory about what’s going on.” Tsukishima pulled the notebook toward himself and began making notes.

“And we’re what? Being sucked into a black hole or something? Are we going to die?” Hinata asked, shivering. 

“I don’t think so. I’m still working on a few ideas.” Tsukishima replied. Yamaguchi picked up the discarded marker and jotted a couple of things down as well. 

“Wait,” Yamaguchi said. Tsukishima stopped his writing and waited.

“I think that’s my writing.” he was pointing at the pictures on the table.

Hinata looked but he wouldn’t know, so he waited while Tsuki and Yamaguchi pulled a couple forward.

“See?” Yamaguchi put the note next to the cards and then it was obvious. It was his handwriting, alright. He was the one who’d labeled the cards.

“But it makes no sense! You didn’t do this. So who did?” Hinata asked.

“The other Tadashi, in the other house.” Tsukishima surmised. Yamaguchi was nodding gravely.

“This is insane,” Kageyama said. He scrubbed a hand over his face and groaned. 

“Maybe it actually is insane” Tanaka said as he came back into the room. “Maybe there was a gas leak somewhere and we’re all hallucinating this.

“Hallucinations don’t work that way,” Tsukishima argued. “We wouldn’t be seeing the same things.”

“Well, now that’s not entirely true is it? What about the Salem witch trials, in the U.S.. We learned about that in high school. When they were all high on that mold from the grain stores and thought their friends and family members were witches? That was a bunch of people seeing the same stuff.” Tanaka sank into a chair on the end. 

“Granted, but even so there were plenty of personal reasons they all had for getting their neighbors hung. The witchcraft may have all been fabricated. No one will ever know for certain.” Tsukishima went back to taking notes.

Tanaka slapped his hand on the table. “Okay, but what if we were drugged? What if we’re not all having the same hallucination, we just think we are because we’re talking about it and we’re high?”

“Woah. Are we drugged? Is that a possibility?” Nishinoya asked as he took the seat next to Tanaka.

“I don’t think so. Who would drug us?” Yamaguchi answered.

“An accidental poisoning?” Hinata offered, but Tsukishima shot down all of their theories one by one. It left Hinata feeling even grouchier than before.

The others were steadily slipping back into the dining room, listening this time and not interrupting one another. Hinata was grateful. If they all started falling apart because of this there was no way he could hold his shit together.

“Then I say we go have a look for ourselves,” Tanaka announced. “We need to see what Ukai saw and go from there.”

Asahi was immediately against this and Sugawara was siding with him.

“I don’t think anyone should leave.” Asahi’s voice was steady but too soft, too afraid, in the midst of all of the din around them. Everyone fell quiet again to hear him out though, so that was an improvement.

“It doesn’t seem safe. We don’t know what’s going on so everyone should stick together.” Asahi said. He had his hand on Nishinoya’s arm, his fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt. Noya looked up at him and tried to take his hand, but Asahi wouldn’t budge. He was scared, they all were.

“Azumane is right, we can’t have people coming in and out of here when we don’t have phones and we don’t know what we’re dealing with.” Sugawara said. He crossed his arms over his chest and shivered.

“The problem is we can’t figure it out if we don’t just go see. It won’t take long and we can take a larger group this time.” Tanaka reasoned.

Daichi agreed with him, though he couldn’t quite look at Sugawara when he said it. He also volunteered, followed quickly by Nishinoya, and much to Hinata’s surprise, Kageyama. Though it shouldn’t surprise him, he just hadn’t considered that Kageyama’s curiosity would be enough to take him away from Hinata’s side in the middle of a crisis. So Hinata did what he really didn’t want to do and stood to join them.

“I’m not letting you have all the fun,” he told Kageyama in his most serious voice. He got a quiet nod of assent from Kageyama before they headed out.

Asahi didn’t argue any further, but Hinata watched him curl up as small as he could be in one of the chairs. Sugawara chose to pull Daichi aside for a moment in the kitchen, but whatever was said between them, Daichi was smiling fondly as they walked toward the door.

It was deeply dark outside and Hinata was struck again by how much light pollution he was used to. In the distance he could see what should be the inviting glow of the other house. But it wasn’t exactly comforting, not when he felt such uncertainty about what might be over there. He wanted to say something to Kageyama, but no one else was talking and Kags had that look, like he was trying to work it all out for himself, so Hinata kept quiet. He was relieved, though, when Kageyama took his hand and threaded their fingers together. It was a reminder that no matter what, he wasn’t alone.

The street was empty and silent. All Hinata could hear was the rhythmic slaps of their shoes on the pavement as they walked. He strained to hear anything else, but the night felt empty and huge. One patch of the street is particularly dark and cold and Hinata shivered, but it was over soon enough because there was the house, finally, just ahead to their right. It certainly looks like Ukai’s place, but he knows neighborhoods can be that way sometimes. It’s not a confirmation, not yet. 

They were all standing on the street, watching the house as if waiting for something to happen and Hinata found he couldn’t stand the idea of being the first to move. Daichi did it though, he stepped forward silently but Tanaka laid his hand on his arm, stilling him.

“I’ll go,” Tanaka offered. Hinata hated the tiny scared part of him that was relieved, but there was nothing he could do about it. He was simply terrified to look. Daichi nodded his acceptance and Kageyama let out a rush of breath beside him. 

Hinata couldn’t breathe as he watched him go. Tanaka moved slightly to the right, toward the round bank of windows where the warm golden light spills from the house. 

“Should we, uh… Go look now?” Hinata asked tentatively.

“Yeah, let’s go check,” Daichi began walking up the drive and the others followed. Once on the porch, Kageyama moved to look inside the front window. As soon as he got a glimpse of what was inside someone approached the window from the other side of the curtains.

“Shit! Go!” Kageyama grabbed Hinata’s hand and they all ran down into the street, Tanaka right on their heels. They only stopped when they saw small lights bouncing along across the street. Hinata was the first to realize what they were looking at.

“Are those the blue glowsticks? Who has them?”

“I don’t know, let’s get closer,” Kageyama suggested. The other group started moving forward at the same time they did, this didn’t go unnoticed.

“Wait…” Noya stopped and one from the other group did the same. “I’ve got a really bad feeling about this…”

They all halted on the curb, just as the other group did. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness they began to see who was standing across the street wearing blue glowsticks around their necks. It was them, but at the same time it wasn’t. The groups were identical save for the glowsticks.

Hinata felt his mouth drop open at the same time as the Hinata across the street had the same reaction. It was shocking, but more than anything Hinata was on the verge of panic. It felt wrong, everything felt wrong and upside down and only Kageyama’s hand in his kept him from falling to the ground.

“Go! Go now!” Daichi shoved at them and they ran, the other group heading off in the other direction.

Hinata kept hold of Kageyama on the way back. It was the only thing he could focus on or count on. The world had gone sideways, but Kageyama’s fingers were strong and warm in his grip, holding onto him with the same force Hinata was hanging on to him with. Under his sneakers, the pavement slapped against his feet hard with each pounding step, but Hinata’s only thought was holding Kageyama’s hand and never letting it go.

Back in the house there was a scuffle as they tried not to run over one another as Daichi locked the door behind them. They tumbled into the living room in more or less a tangle that they had to straighten out before anyone could speak. Everyone stared at them, but Hinata could only stare back. He was winded and lost and maybe experiencing a bit of shock.

“What happened?” Sugawara was the first to ask anything. He was trying to pull Daichi forward by the hands, but Daichi wasn’t moving. He was shaking his head as if trying to find the right words. 

Kageyama spoke up. “We saw the house. We saw us in the house and then we ran.” Hinata could hear the hesitation in his voice, but he understood the reason behind it. They’d all seen the same thing on the street with their own eyes, but it didn’t seem real. How could it be real?

Tanaka talked about looking in on the side of the house and who he’d seen, but it was Daichi who finally had the nerve to talk about the other group they’d seen on the street.

“They were wearing glowsticks, too.” He explained.

“What are you saying?” Sugawara asked. Hinata could feel the tension ratchet up in the room as everyone held a collective breath.

“I’m saying they were us. There were four of them and four of us and they were watching us and we were watching them and the only difference was that their glowsticks were blue.” Daichi spoke slowly, but the moment he finished talking the tension broke and the room erupted in arguing.

Hinata tugged Kageyama down into a chair while they listened to Asahi and Sugawara try to makes sense out of something that made no sense.

“So we were in the house and we were on the street? That’s what you're saying? You saw yourselves, but with blue glowsticks?” Sugawara was making Daichi go over the details again, which was making Hinata’s head ache.

“There was a weirdly dark place, too.” Tanaka added in. The rest of them confirmed this and the conversation turned to that. The others had noticed it as well.

He looked around the room, absently, and noticed Ukai, Ennoshita, and Nishinoya whispering by the table, out of earshot from the rest of them. Nishinoya was shaking a glowstick at Ukai, but that was all Hinata could see. It was insane. Everyone wanted to argue over details, but that wasn’t going to get them anywhere.

“We need to do something!” Hinata hadn’t meant for his voice to be so loud, but loud was effective and suddenly the room was quiet.

“What do you want to do?” Tsukishima asked.

“I don’t know! Something! We can’t just sit here and argue like we don’t believe each other. We need to be proactive!” Hinata could feel his heart pounding. It felt right, though. He couldn’t just sit idly by while the world fell apart, while they fell apart. They needed a plan.

“We need to be able to figure out what’s happening so we know what to do.” Hinata offered. He looked to Ukai. “Don’t you have anything around here we could look at?”

“What do you think I keep around here?” Ukai asked. They’d come back from the dining room and were watching Hinata skeptically. “I’ve got all the books you could want on Volleyball and Karasuno.” He threw his hands up, frustrated.

“I don’t know! I’m just saying there has to be a place to start. Anything is better than trying to guess.” Hinata threw his hands out to the group, imploring anyone else to take up his side.

“We might have something.” Yamaguchi spoke up and everyone turned toward him, surprised. Even Tsukishima.

“We might?” Tsukishima asked.

“Yes, there’s a book. I don’t know exactly what it’s about, but it’s from that professor of yours. You know the one? He wanted us to take a look at it. It’s in the car. I’d forgotten it was there.” Yamaguchi said.

Tsukishima appeared to consider it while everyone around them asked questions. “He did know a lot about the comet. It wouldn’t hurt to see what he’s given us.” Tsukishima concluded. “I’ll go get it. Where is it?”

“The backseat. It’s in an envelope.” Yamaguchi told him. Tsukishima was headed for the door when Kageyama stood.

“I’ll go with you. I don’t think any of us should be out there alone. We need to stay in groups of two or more.” It sounded logical, but it made Hinata uncomfortable. He didn’t want to let Kageyama out of his sight.

He followed all the way to the door, still holding on to Kageyama as he tried to slip his shoes back on.

“I’ll only be a minute, I’m not going anywhere.” Kagayama tried to comfort him, but Hinata couldn’t find his voice to respond. “I’m not going down the street, I’m only going to the curb. I’ll be back in one minute. You can wait right here and watch for me, okay?

Hinata finally let go of his sleeve and let him go. His chest felt heavy as he watched them file out the door. He locked it behind them, then leaned on it and worked to control his breathing while he waited. In. Hold. Out. In, slower. Just like he did before a big game. He closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing, then on the way the cold door felt through his shirt. It was all about feeling at one with your body, centering yourself. It was helping, he thought.

However, when the doorknob rattled, it scared him bad enough he jumped, but looking out he could see Kageyama and Tsukishima waiting, so he opened the door and let them through.

“Any trouble?” Hinata asked as they pulled off their shoes.

“None whatsoever.” Kageyama told him.

“Maybe we should wake Takeda up now,” Asahi said as they walked back into the livingroom. Sugawara just waved him off though, because now everyone was waiting to see if the book could be of any use.

“Gravitation: An Introduction to Current Research.” Tsukishima read as he pulled the book out of the envelope. He stroked the cover thoughtfully.

“Is that going to be helpful?” Daichi asked what they were all wondering.

Hinata stepped back, his knees still not quite solid under him after their flight down the street. It felt better to be sitting for this.

“Maybe,” Tsukishima flipped the cover and read silently while they all waited.

“What kind of professor is this anyway?” Kageyama’s voice was skeptical as he leaned into Tsukishima’s space trying to get a look.

“A quantum physics professor, you ass,” Tsukishima snapped.

“Just open it, Jesus,” Kageyama was agitated, but Hinata couldn’t think of a way to comfort him. He felt exactly the same way. The strain was wearing him thinner and thinner by the minute.

“Fine! Alright!!” Tsukishima opened the book to the table of contents and read off the first chapter. “Introductions and Schroedinger’s cat.”

“What the hell? What is that?” Nishinoya sounded impatient too.

“I’m allergic to cats,” Tanaka offered helpfully. Hinata could tell he wasn’t trying to be funny, he was on edge.

“Schroedinger’s cat is like this. There’s a cat in a box with a vile of poison. The cat is either alive or dead. But quantum physics says that both realities exist at once and that it’s only when the box is opened that the realities separate and the observer can see which reality remains,” Yamaguchi explained.

“So… We’re the cat? We’re both here and there at the same time, so does that mean the realities didn’t separate?” Tanaka asked and Tsukishima nodded approvingly.

“And the comet is what’s causing this?” Sugawara spoke up. Tsukishima nodded again. He was flipping forward in the book again and Hinata wished he would share everything.

“Either it’s the comet, or the realities are collapsing on each other. So either everything will be okay once it passes, or one group has to go,” Yamaguchi said gravely. Everyone in the room sucked in a breath and they all stopped talking for a moment. “Decoherence should have protected us from this but all the rules stopped making sense the moment that thing flew over us.”

“Why did the other group contact us like this then? Do they or do they not know?” Daichi asked, hand in hand with Sugawara. He was pointing toward the table in the other room with the box.

“The only thing I can think is that the box isn’t for us,” Tsukishima speculated.

“Then who’s it for?” Ukai looked confused.

“I don’t know, but we probably need to find out.”

“We really should’ve stayed away. You know how in that one anime the girl keeps going back in time to save her friend and all it does is screw up her timeline more every time?” Hinata and Kageyama looked like they understood but the rest just looked even more lost. “Well, it’s like that. Every time we see them, coherence gets stronger and that’s really bad for us.” Yamaguchi looked around the room, but most of the faces were still confused.

“But what if it’s not the comet? Does that mean we need to get rid of the other group?” Everyone cringed when Tanaka said “Get rid of,” and they all looked to Tsukishima for an answer.

“God, no,” Tsukishima slouched in his chair. “We need a plan.”

“Should we return the box?” Kageyama stood up.

“No, I don’t want to give it back to them,” Tanaka huffed.

“We aren’t at war with them, they are literally us,” Tsukishima chided.

“Well then I guess I don’t trust myself,” Tanaka said matter-of-factly. Yamaguchi eyed him.

“Who did you see over there?” He asked carefully.

“I didn’t see myself. I told you what I saw, okay? But let’s say that other Ryuu is over there drinking? I don’t want a fucked up, drunk Ryuu to come over here and kill us all,” the room tensed. “I saw Coach, Chikara, and everyone else except Yams so that was different.

“That’s what’s off then. If Takeda is awake then maybe over there, the one sleeping is you, Tadashi. And if you’re asleep that means that they don’t have the book!” Tsukishima said. It made since. Yamaguchi was the one who remembered he and Tsukishima had the book in their car. So if he was napping in that other house, the other group wouldn’t have the information from the book yet.

“Then let’s go get theirs,” Tanaka stood up heading for his shoes.

“I don’t know if that’s the best idea. Didn’t you say that we should leave them alone?” Ennoshita finally said, looking a little nervous.

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s the best idea,” Ukai agreed.

“Look, maybe it would be best to just go over there and talk to them. It’s just us right?” Asahi said expectantly.

“No, I don’t think we should,” Ennoshita was fidgeting with the loose threads on the back of his chair.

“Yeah,” Ukai said quickly.

“Hey, is everyone okay?” They all jumped when they heard Takeda speak; he had come up behind the group. Sugawara shared a look with Daichi and then turned to Takeda, walking him into the kitchen. Tanaka took this as a chance to pull Hinata aside.

“I have a plan.”

“What?” Hinata was surprised.

“I’m going to blackmail myself into giving us the book.” Tanaka seemed proud of himself.

“Wait, no. How?” Hinata was starting to worry.

“I’m gonna write a note saying that I’ll tell his group about what happened with me and Yu back in our second year of college,” he beamed like he’d won something.

“ _ What _ ? Didn’t you clear that up last year?” Hinata smacked him on the shoulder.

“How was I supposed to tell Asahi about that? Me and Yu agreed that we would just never talk about it again.”

“Yet, here you are, talking about it!” Hinata hissed. “Noya and Asahi have finally made peace with their relationship and they’re happy with it. You know how hard it was for them when Asahi realized he was asexual. Would you really risk messing that up for them now?” Hinata felt panicked.

“Look, I’m going to do it whether you agree with me or not.” Tanaka flicked his shoulder and turned away.

“Fine!” Hinata grabbed fistfulls of his own hair in his frustration before going back to where he’d been sitting with Kageyama.

“Hey, what’s up?” Kageyama asked gently.

Hinata crossed his arms over his chest and squeezed himself tight. “Ryuu is about to do something really stupid and I couldn’t stop him.”

“What’s he gonna do?”

“You remember what happened with him and Yuu last year? He’s gonna try and blackmail himself in the other house with that.”

“Oh,” Kageyama looked down. 

It was hard to believe Tanaka would want to do something like that. Nishinoya was his best friend. Obviously Kageyama felt the same way.

“I wish he’d let me talk him out of it but he wouldn’t budge.” Hinata sank further into the chair and leaned his weight against Kageyama.

“Hopefully it’ll work itself out. Maybe he won’t actually do it,” Kageyama patted Hinata on the back and stood up, heading for the kitchen. Hinata stood too. He needed a distraction so he walked to the dining room and picked up his plate from the table and then followed Kageyama. He started working on the dishes when he overheard Ukai and Takeda.

“So, I don't think I’ve ever seen this one,” Takeda said. Hinata’s heart started pounding in his chest.

“Kiyomi took that. The last day of camp this year, when we let everyone run loose on the beach. She took a lot, but this was my favorite.” Ukai explained.

Hinata turned slowly to see what picture they were talking about. It was the current Karasuno team, all in swim trunks, tanned or in some cases burned, and the water and sun were behind them. They looked ridiculous hanging all over one another and clearly laughing and not at all trying to pose. They all looked really young.

It was the same conversation about the same photo as before. Hinata felt panic set in as Takeda and Ukai left the kitchen. 

Hinata walked slowly to the living room to hopefully find a sense of security.

***

“Look, it’s not even open! This is the wrong house!” Nishinoya pointed to the box of blue glow sticks.

“What are we gonna do?” Ennoshita hissed.

“It’s okay, we just need to… we just need to go, get the book, I’ve got the box,” Ukai ran a hand through his hair and took one last look at the house before slipping out the back door behind Nishinoya.

***

Hinata was sitting with Kageyama and Takeda when Tanaka walked in through the front door.

“Hey! What the hell? I thought we were agreed to stay inside!” Sugawara exclaimed.

“I went over there to get their book but I chickened out,” Tanaka lied. Hinata gave him a look and Tanaka just walked into the kitchen. Despite his better judgement, he followed him.

“Please tell me you didn’t do it,” Hinata had a desperate look on his face. “You were only gone for a few minutes, surely you didn’t do it.”

“Dude, I was gone for like half an hour at least, I delivered the letter and I was gonna wait for their reaction but I got scared so I left,” Tanaka looked somewhat lost. Hinata’s ears started to ring.

“What if something bad happens? What if they come over here?” Tanaka walked over to a cabinet and took out a bottle of wine, uncorked it and then drank straight from the bottle. Hinata didn’t think he could stand any more surprises, but this was one of the worst so far. “Ryuu, why now?”

“Why not now? You gonna stop me?” He didn’t give Hinata time to answer, but turned his back resolutely, still drinking as he walked away.

“I’m gonna try,” Hinata grit his teeth and followed Tanaka back into the living room where everyone was sitting around the room silently. When they saw what Tanaka was doing, some stood up and the others sucked in a breath.

“Ryuu!” Sugawara was holding on to Daichi’s shoulder. Tanaka didn’t answer, he just sat down on the floor by the television.

It was silent for a while after that as everyone took in their situation. Then suddenly, Tanaka broke the silence.

“Where’s Coach and Yuu? Chi-chan?” Everybody looked around.

“They might still be in the dining room, we’ll go look,” Kageyama and Hinata got up and headed towards the dining room. They weren’t there, and neither was the box or the book.

“They took the box!” Kageyama yelled to the other room as Hinata checked for it under the table. As expected, he found nothing. Everyone but Tanaka migrated to the dining room and sat down again.

“They took the clues,” Daichi surmised.

“It’s okay, we still have all the clues,” Yamaguchi soothed. “If they had all the clues to put together that box in the other house, then so do we here.”

“Yes.” Tsukishima agreed. We need a deck of cards and those pictures Ukai brought out before. We can work with that and our notes.”

“You know, I think I’ve even seen that box here before, let me go try and find it,” Sugawara headed for the office.

“How could we not have noticed? They were talking about how they wanted to return everything and they were the first to leave and come back when all of this started,” Kageyama was deep in thought.

“What about us? We left too,” Daichi said, unsure of the reaction he was going to get.

“We just need to calm down and think about what was in that box. It might help us understand this better,” Tsukishima said as Sugawara came back in with the box.

“Found it,” he said triumphantly.

Daichi and Asahi were talking near the door. Hinata didn’t have to hear them to know that they were talking about Tanaka. They all wanted to help him. When he came in, the room went silent again. He set his bottle down with a thunk and sat down.

“Do we have a plan?” He slurred.

“That’s what we were just talking about,” Yamaguchi said.

“So fill me in.”

“Right now we’re just trying to figure out what this means,” Hinata cut in.

“Okay. What do you think the numbers mean?”

“Well, its cards so we just have to figure out why each one was chosen,” Hinata spread the regular pack of cards out in front of him along with Tsukishima’s notes.

“I need a drink,” Sugawara said suddenly. Hinata and Tsukishima agreed and the three went into the kitchen. Sugawara opened a case of beer in the fridge and handed one to the both of them, taking one for himself.

“I’ll be right back, I need to use the bathroom,” Hinata said, Sugawara waved and Tsukishima agreed, following him down the hallway.

“I wanted to talk with you alone,” Tsukishima stopped walking and Hinata turned around.

“About what?” He was confused. Tsukishima was looking at him so intently he wanted to squirm.

“About you and Tobio.”

“What about us?” Hinata felt defensive.

“I just don't know how you guys are gonna get through the next few years, hell, months even,” Tsukishima had a cold stare.

“You’re crazy! We’re doing just fine and you need to lay off!” Hinata turned and went to walk again. Tsukishima grabbed him by the shoulder.

“You lied to him! When are you going to tell him that you stayed with Kenma longer than he realizes, huh? When are you going to tell him you spent a whole month lying to him?” He snapped. Hinata jerked his shoulder back and jerked his head, looking away.

“What harm has that lie done? It helped us! We’re together because of it. It doesn’t matter when I broke up with Kenma, because it took years for Kageyama and I to formalize our relationship and you know that. Why are you suddenly making a big deal out of it?” Hinata started walking and left Tsukishima standing there. He slammed his fist against the wall and Suga jumped from where he was listening.

Hinata got to the bathroom and the tears started falling. When  _ was _ he going to tell Kageyama?  _ Could _ he even do it?

Once he was calm, Hinata made his way back to the dining room and saw that Kageyama was the only one there.

“Hey, you alright? Koushi said he heard you and Tsukishima talking in the hallway. He didn’t tell me very much but he said it was pretty heated.” Hinata’s heart was beating fast and he didn’t look up.

“Yeah, I mean, no. We just had a small fight. It was stupid, don’t worry about it,” his nerves were spiking.

“Okay, I hope he gets over it.”

“Thanks I uh, I think that-,” before Hinata could finish, the lights went out and everyone was rushing to find candles and matches. After gathering in the dining room, Sugawara was about to speak when there was a loud noise outside. Everyone stopped moving.

“What was that?” Suga whispered loudly

“I don’t know, let’s go check,” Daichi was heading for the door but Sugawara stopped him.

“I don’t think that’s safe.”

“It’ll be fine Koushi.”

“Then if you’re going, I think we all should,” Sugawara opened a drawer and took out some flashlights. He handed them out they all began moving to where they think the noise came from.

When they were finally outside, they heard the crunch of glass under feet and followed it. By the time they got there, the person was long gone but the window to Tsukishima’s car was shattered.

“Shit,” Yamaguchi said.

“Shit is right. Everyone, go check your cars. Kageyama, go with Tanaka,” Tsukishima shined the light inside his car and grimaced.

“Fine, fine,” Kageyama followed Tanaka and Hinata sat down on the curb in front of the house. A few minutes later, Kageyama sat down beside him.

“Doesn’t this remind you of that time someone broke into our first apartment? Cause that’s all I can think about,” Kageyama smiled and laid back on the grass.

“Yeah, it kinda does,” Hinata said, thinking back on the day they came home to find their back window shattered and the television gone. They never did catch whoever broke in. “Hey, with all this happening, we haven’t had much of a chance to talk about us. Are we… still okay?”

Kageyama sat up and looked Hinata in the eyes, “Of course we are. I love you.” Kageyama pulled Hinata into a hug. They stayed like that for a while before Hinata broke the silence.

“Was anything missing from his car?” He asked.

“Who’s car?” Kageyama looked confused. He pulled away from Hinata. The ringing in Hinata’s ears started again.

“Tanaka’s. Didn’t you go with him to check his car?” Kageyama stood up.

“No… I thought  _ you _ went with him,” Kageyama was backing away and Hinata slowly stood, his heart pounding, blood rushing in his ears. He turned and ran for the house, scrubbing away hot tears with the backs of his hands as he toed off his shoes.

How could he have already lost track? He had been so careful to keep an eye on his Kageyama, how did he lose him?


	5. Ten Thousand Leagues Beneath The Green

                                                            

Hinata burst through the door and everyone turned to look at him.

“Uh, sorry…,” He started taking his shoes off, feeling everyone stare. The conversation started up again once he made it into the dining room. No one noticed him wringing his hands while he tried not to think too hard about what just happened outside.

“What took you so long?” Tanaka asked under his breath.

“I got distracted.” Hinata muttered. Kageyama was already seated back at the table. Hinata slipped into the seat next to him to listen. His heart was still thundering away in his chest and his fingers tingled from the rush of adrenaline he’d just experienced.

“I’m just saying, that it doesn’t make sense! They should’ve known that the book wasn’t there!” Tsukishima was fired up on the subject. Hinata watched and took Kageyama’s hand under the table.

“Then maybe they’re trying to scare us?” Daichi suggested.

“That’s gotta be it, there’s surely no other reason,” Yamaguchi stated.

“Hey, are you okay?” Kageyama whispered as the others argued.

“Yeah, no, I’m good. I was by myself and got scared,” Hinata rubbed Kageyama’s hand with his thumb.

A sudden sound had everyone quiet.

“What was that?” Tanaka whispered.

“I’m gonna look out the window,” Daichi said as he slowly lifted the curtain on the door. Standing on the porch was Ukai, Ennoshita, and Nishinoya, all wearing orange glow sticks around their necks.

“It’s them, they’ve got the right glow sticks!” Asahi exclaimed. He rushed over to the door and opened it despite Daichi’s warning.

Before Nishinoya could get a word out, Asahi had him in a hug. Some people in the room cooed but neither cared enough to stop holding one another.

“Where were you guys all this time?” Daichi demanded. Nishinoya set the book down on the table.

“Why’d you take the book?” Hinata asked desperately. Nishinoya ignored him and started from the beginning.

“We went to the other house to try their phone but no one answered so we went around to the back. Coach looked through one of the windows but he won't tell us what he saw or how he got hurt. After that, we grabbed this book and ran back here but--”

Sugawara cut him off. “You already told this story, why are you telling it again?” He asked eyeing them.

“What?” Ukai looked confused.

Daichi replied, “You left and then you came back with a box and then you told us what happened and we gave you a band-aid-.”

“Not that band-aid. I gave you a cloth one,” Sugawara said gravely. The room went silent again.

“There was another us here?” Ennoshita asked, breaking the silence.

“Yeah and they took the box and the book and left,” Hinata said.

“And we were all worried because we didn’t know where they went,” Kageyama added.

“We were at a house where they all had blue glow sticks,” they each pulled out a blue glow stick to show the group.

“You have blue glow sticks,” Sugawara gasped.

“We had to take them from the other house so we could escape,” Ukai pointed at the box of blue glow sticks on the table, “See? It’s unopened.”

“Guys, if they started here, they belong here. They’re in the right house. It’s okay,” Daichi soothed.

“Welcome back,” was all Hinata could manage to say. Several of the others piped up from around the room with similar sentiments.

“What was the other Tanaka like? What was he doing.” Tanaka spoke up. The rest of the room fell silent as everyone turned toward him.

“He’s worried about you,” Nishinoya said. His eyes darted to the side and he didn’t say anything else.

“So it was you guys who left us the note then.” Hinata interrupted.

“No, we never got out with the note. We ended up with two notes actually,” Ennoshita said.

“But we have two, one that was written here and one that was left on the door,” Yamaguchi picked up both notes from the table showing them to everyone. “If it wasn’t you guys, then who’s been leaving the notes?”

“I don’t know,” Ukai sat down heavily.

“Then there are at least four houses. What does that mean?” Kageyama looked to Tsukishima.

“I don’t know, Tobio. Quantum decoherence should assure that the different outcomes have no interaction with one another.” Hinata didn’t think he sounded very sure of his answer though.

“Well, all of these notes prove that the outcomes are interacting. I mean we’ve all been interacting with the others in one way or another right?” Tanaka spoke as he paced the other side of the room, stopping to glance out into the darkness.

“We need some way of signifying that this is our house. Like a marker of some kind. So we can’t get lost again. But what would we use?” Yamaguchi questioned.

“Just stay inside. Everyone just stay put now.” Sugawara rubbed at his temple, speaking only loud enough to just be heard above the noise of the others.

“That’s not reasonable at this point.” Daichi told him. Hinata wanted to agree with him, but since the others did for him, he stayed quiet and thinking.

“Do you have cards?” Tsukishima asked.

“Yeah, why?” Ukai answered.

“Because since there are 52 cards in a deck what you draw would be completely random. We would just need to remember what everyone else’s card was in order to find this one out of however many there are.” Tsukishima supplied.

“Okay, but how do we show who’s card is is who’s? Are we gonna write it down or…?” Ennoshita thought aloud.

“We can use pictures. Paper clip the cards on the back of pictures of us.”

“What would we put it in then?”

“A box,” as he said it, the room went quiet.

“Just like the one we found… That’s what it was for!” Tanaka exclaimed. Hinata was realizing it the same way everyone else was. The box they’d taken from the other house was a marker for that house.

“I’ll go find the box, Coach, you look for pictures,” Sugawara left to find a box and Ukai went to get the box of photos.

By the time that they came back, everyone had drawn a card from the deck Daichi found.

“Look what I found.” Sugawara placed the box on the table. It was identical to the one they’d had earlier.

“Good, you guys come draw a card,” Yamaguchi held out the deck of cards. The two of them drew and Hinata started going through the pictures until they had one of everyone except Asahi.

“Why don’t you have any pictures of Azumane?” Nishinoya asked.

“I actually don’t know. I guess we’ll have to take one. Takeda, didn’t you say you had a polaroid camera?” Ukai said.

“Yeah, it’s in my room, I’ll go get it,” Takeda came back a few moments later with the camera in hand. He held it up towards Asahi, “Smile.” Asahi grinned sheepishly and Takeda took the picture and handed it to Hinata, who paperclipped his picture to his card.

“I feel like we still need something else,” Tsukishima said, deep in thought. “Maybe something from the house?”

“Like an oven mitt,” said Nishinoya.

“Or like a baseball,” Hinata added remembering the random baseball in the box they’d taken.

“Yes, exactly like a baseball.” Tsukishima agreed.

“What about this? That’s random, right?” Ennoshita implored. He was holding an empty bottle of sake from earlier.

“Yeah, pass it over,” Yamaguchi said took the bottle and placed it in the box along with the pictures and cards.

“I think that as long as we stick together, we should be able to get through this,” Ukai said.

“Yeah, as long as we don’t leave the house we’ll be fine,” Tsukishima agreed.

“I wonder how different these cards are from the first box?” Yamaguchi thought aloud.

“Lets check,” Hinata flipped through the notebook to find the notes he took earlier. His heart almost stopped when he saw what was written. It was in green marker instead of the blue he wrote the list with and none of the cards matched what Hinata remembered. He looked around at everyone as they stood up to go to the kitchen for dessert.

“You okay?” Tanaka came up behind him, he was startled.

“I don’t really know,” Hinata ran a hand through his hair, “Do you remember what card you had in the first box?”

“I think I was a Queen of Clubs,” Hinata circled Tanaka’s name on the notes he’d found written in green. He felt the ground fall out from under him. He was sure. This Tanaka wasn’t from his house. He went around the room asking people if they remembered their cards. Some of them matched the old list, but most didn’t. Not only was Hinata in the wrong house, most of the others were as well.

“Ryu, do you remember all these cards?” Hinata held up the original page.

“Yeah, of course,” Tanaka raised an eyebrow. “Do you?”

“No….” Hinata felt dizzy.

“Oh…” Tanaka’s brows drew together as he sat next to Hinata.

“Ryu, I need to show you something,” Hinata whispered. “The cards I remember don’t match up to these.” Hinata pointed to the list they already had and the one he’d just made. “When I asked around the room, only Sugawara and Takeda are from this house because they have never left.”

Tanaka laughed an ugly laugh.

“It gets worse, because Ennoshita, Ukai, and Nishinoya are from a third house. Remember that dark patch outside down the street?” Hinata asked.

Tanaka nodded and reached for a nearby beer bottle that may have been his or not.

“Well, I was thinking, what if when you go through it, it’s like a roulette wheel. You could end up anywhere. And I think we need to find a way back to our own houses before the comet passes because what if when it passes we’re just stuck, here? I’m not okay with that. Are you?” Hinata leaned even closer. His heart was pounding. If his Kageyama wasn’t here, he wanted to find him no matter what. He was sure all the other versions of himself would feel the same way.

“The problem with that is, if you go through that dark space and it is like a roulette wheel, then you will probably never find the house you are originally from. So I think we should stay put. What if you wind up in a place where Kageyama isn’t even yours?” Tanaka asked.

It gave Hinata chills to think about it.

Their conversation was interrupted when they heard someone at the door.

“Don’t open it!” Sugawara cautioned, panicked.

Before anyone could do anything, a note slid under the back door.

Asahi and the rest of them all hurried into the dining room. He picked it up and read it aloud.

“ _Ryu.”_ Asahi started to read.

“Oh, fuck me,” Tanaka scrubbed his hands over his face, digging his heels into his eyes.

_“Ryu, my friend, Nishinoya plus book equals that night on the lake. Don’t let it happen, whatever it takes, buddy_ ,” Asahi frowned, “What is this?”

“Fuck,” Tanaka was still hiding his face in his hands.

“What? What does this mean?” Ashai held the note towards Tanaka. Hinata grabbed Kageyama’s arm as he stepped closer, his previous conversation with Tanaka forgotten.

“No, it’s nothing. Ryu just had this crazy idea that he could leave them this note and prevent them from getting the book. It’s nothing.” Hinata tried to diffuse the situation.

“Okay, well now we have the note so what does it mean?” Asahi was reading over it again while Nishinoya stared at Tanaka in shock.

“It’s nothing, just another Ryu running around trying to make trouble.” Hinata flapped his hand as if to dismiss it.

“Fine, but you know what this means, right? Just tell me what this means.” Asahi demanded softly.

“It’s nothing,” Hinata tried to assure him.

“If it’s nothing, why does Noya have a nosebleed.” Asahi asked.

Hinata, along with the rest of the group, turned to Nishinoya to find that sure enough, his nose had started to bleed. He also seemed to be on the verge of tears. It made Hinata feel sick. Nishinoya clapped a hand over his nose and ran from the room.

Everyone else wanted to know what was happening now too so Tanaka began to tell the story while Hinata clung to Kageyama for support.

“Ten years ago, Noya and I got drunk at the lake. This was before you and he worked out how to have a queerplatonic relationship and back when I was bi-curious or whatever.” This was addressed to Asahi. “We were drunk and we fooled around and then Noya felt so bad about it we decided never to tell anyone. I thought if I could blackmail my other self he wouldn’t let them go after the book, but it seems it just backfired on me.” Tanaka finished his story and picked his wine bottle back up from the table and took a swig.

No one said a word for a moment, they were all collectively holding their breath. Finally, Asahi spoke. “I already know.” He looked at the note again in confusion. “Noya told me right away, he never kept it a secret. We worked this out years ago, Ryu.”

They all stood staring between Asahi and Tanaka coming to the same conclusion Hinata already had. He could see it in all of their faces. They knew they were from different houses. Noya was too.

“I better go check on Noya,” Asahi said quietly. Then he laid the note on the table and left the room.

There was a quiet shuffle where people left for more drinks or to check on Nishinoya and Asahi until it was just Kageyama and Hinata sitting on one side of the table with Tanaka on the other. He couldn’t think of anything to say to Kageyama in light of what everyone had just figured out. Clearly Kageyama wasn’t taking it well because he’d pulled away from Hinata and was staring blankly at the table.

Suddenly a crash sounded and the back door opened. It was Tanaka, another Tanaka. He came at the Tanaka seated at the table and decked him, knocking him to the floor. He followed him down, punching him over and over. Kageyama was on his feet trying to pull them apart. Hinata screamed for him to stop and the others came rushing back in to see what the commotion was. As soon as he saw all of the others the attacking Tanaka ran out.

“What was that?”

“Oh my god.”

“Are you okay?”

The others crowded around as Kageyama tried to revive Tanaka who was completely passed out. Noya and Asahi were back and Noya was fully crying now. Sugawara was shaking and holding himself while Daichi tried to calm him. Ukai began talking about barricading the doors for safety. Everything was falling apart. Everything was in shambles. Hinata’s dizziness was back, but more than that he just felt overwhelmingly like he shouldn’t be there. Silently, while everyone was distracted, Hinata backed out the open back door and into the night.

Outside, away from the cacophony of panic, Hinata felt like he could breathe.

He crossed the street and sank slowly down onto the curb, staring at the house across the street. The light from within looked so welcoming. It looked like where he belonged. It looked right, but Hinata knew it wasn’t. He just had to try and find his way back to his Kageyama and the rest of the group. No matter how impossible it might be, he had to try. The only way to do it was to face the darkness down the street and to go through it as many times as it took between now and sunrise. At sunrise he needed to be with his Kageyama in the house no matter what.

Above him, the comet seemed to have moved, though he knew it was just wishful thinking. It was too far away to see it moving. He wished it were over and he wished he had all the time in the world and the wishing hurt his heart either way.

“Where are you?” He asked. The stars had no answer for him so he stood resolutely and turned for the other house.

When he got the the house he crept up silently. He needed to see in before making any decisions. Right away he knew he wasn’t in the right place yet. Tanaka was fighting himself again and everyone had red glowsticks around their necks. Sugawara noticed him creeping around outside and his mouth fell open, but Hinata put his finger to his lips and Sugawara nodded almost imperceptibly. He wouldn’t tell anyone and Hinata could slip away again without getting in the middle of their disaster. One house down, infinite houses to go.

Back down the street at the next house Hinata decided to be more careful. He couldn’t be seen in case whoever saw him wasn’t friendly. He still hadn’t gotten the image of Tanaka fighting himself out of his head. So he made his approach to the back door, slowly, careful to make sure there was no one else outside. The backdoor was unguarded so Hinata leaned around the corner to look in. What he saw scared him to the bones. Everyone was fighting. Ukai fired a gun just as HInata made to pull away, but thankfully it was only at the ceiling. “Everyone stop!” Ukai yelled. They didn’t stop. Hinata ran away as quick as his feet could carry him.

Back through the dark and the cold and Hinata’s mind was reeling. Ahead the house glowed just like every other house and Hinata had the strange thought that maybe there were no other houses at all. Maybe there was only this same house over and over and everything else was an illusion. He had to stay positive, though, or he’d lose his mind thinking like that.

He used the same approach tactic, moving through the side yard until he reached the backyard where he could sneak up on the back door again. It felt the safest because of the trees and the cover they provided. Someone was on the back porch though, so HInata darted around one of the trees to get a better look. If Ukai with a gun was a shock, Hinata couldn’t explain what he felt just then at all. It was him. It was him and Kenma and they were wrapped up in each others arms kissing passionately.

Hinata hadn’t seen Kenma for years. Not since they were finally over. It would be too uncomfortable not only because of the breakup, but because he was sure Kenma knew he’d never cared for him the way he cared for Kageyama. Everyone that knew anything knew that. Yet there they were, kissing like he’d never kissed his Kenma. It made his stomach clench to see it. It was such a private moment and definitely not for his eyes. Hinata ran again, his feet pounding the pavement beneath him, his heart wrenched sideways.

That reality didn’t sit well with him after what Tsukishima had said.

The fifth house was dark in most rooms. As he looked inside, his heart fell. Kiyoko and Yatchi were in the front room talking and holding hands, and Kageyama was sitting on the couch with a Hinata in his lap. He looked away quickly and wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. The jealousy in his heart burned but he pushed forward.

The sixth house gave him a strange feeling, but he moved towards it anyway. He looked in through the front window again and saw himself sitting with Yachi, holding her hand. Kageyama and Tsukishima were sitting together on the small couch, talking and laughing. Yamaguchi was nowhere in sight and Hinata could guess why. It made him feel weird to look at the scene so he quickly left, certain that wasn’t his Kageyama anyway.

He was out of breath by the time he got to the seventh house. Hinata was still keeping count of the houses as he checked them, but in his heart he knew he shouldn’t. He might visit the house a hundred times or more tonight. Hinata decided to approach from the front and then side to peer in the dining room bay windows.

Inside things were quiet. He could see Sugawara and Daichi sitting at the table while Kageyama chatted to them. All of them had orange glow sticks and Hinata’s heart jumped up in his throat. He wanted to wait and to watch to be sure, but maybe, just maybe, he was here. Most importantly, as the others came and went, he was the only one missing from the group.

After ten minutes of waiting Hinata decided to give it a shot. If he was wrong, he’d leave, and quickly, but if he was right that might be his Kageyama sitting there nursing a beer waiting for him to return. He itched to know. When the group moved to the living room, Hinata took it as his chance to slip inside.

Nishinoya was the only one who looked up when he came in. The others were leaning together over the coffee table where a few late night snacks were being served. Hinata slid onto the couch with Kageyama who gave him an easy smile.

“Did you find what you were looking for in the car?” Kageyama asked him.

Hinata nodded, relaxing just a little bit more. Maybe, hopefully.

“We need to be sure we’re locked in here. We don’t need another incident like before with Tanaka or anyone else.” Ukai told them. Sugawara was agreeing loudly while Daichi and Ennoshita locked up.

“From now on, we stay put, got it?” Daichi asked when he came back, glancing now at Hinata for emphasis.

Hinata nodded along with everyone else. He was reaching for one of the snacks when he realized Oikawa was walking toward them from the kitchen. Wrong. Wrong. The warning bells were going off in his head. He hadn’t seen Oikawa in a long time either, though sometimes they caught his commercials on television. He was on the fast track to the olympics and both he and Kageyama still considered him their rival. Though not this Kageyama apparently. Oikawa took the seat on the other side of Kageyama and passed him a beer and kissed the side of his mouth as if they weren’t all sitting around them. Kageyama turned into the kiss and Hinata had to do his best not to react, and violently at that. He felt sick. He felt hurt. He felt too much to just sit here and watch so he stood and made a beeline for the kitchen.

As soon as he was sure no one was watching him, he slipped out the backdoor and ran into the night, tears streaming down his face. It was one thing to see himself with someone else, but Kageyama and Oikawa was too much.

This time the night air was no use, the silence of the street felt unbearable. What if he really never did find Kageyama again? How could he live knowing his Kageyama was gone? That they’d never get that first kiss? That they’d never have the life together they’d imagined and worked so hard to get?

Hinata ran. He ran from one house to the next until his side ached and his lungs burned. He saw couples he’d never imagined and some he’d always wondered about. He saw Daichi kissing a woman. He saw Oikawa again, holding Iwaizumi’s hand. There was Kiyoko and Yachi and Kenma, this time with Kuroo. He saw fights and tears and drinking and someone he refused to actually put a face to in a car steaming up the windows with their partner. All of it made Hinata feel very alone. He ran until he could no longer run and then, even then, he rushed. He had to do this as many times as he could. He had to keep going.

The next time he comes out of the darkness and got close to the house he found Kageyama at the back door looking out into the night. Hinata could just make out that he had one hand curled like a fist against the glass and maybe, just maybe, Hinata thought he could tell that Kageyama had been crying. When he withdrew, Hinata went closer and watched carefully from around the corner of the door frame.

Tsukishima stood at the table where he has everyone else seated. Everyone but Hinata. He was reading from the book again, but Hinata could only grab snatches of the topic. Something about making sure they are all inside because the comet should be passing soon enough. Passing like moving out of range, Hinata guessed. They needed to be inside because the other houses would…

Be gone. And there was no way to know when it was going to happen. It was scary, but Hinata was sure that was right. So he began checking the facts. Kageyama was there without him. They were all wearing orange glowsticks. He wanted to check the box, but he realized it wouldn’t matter. He’d left that house to find Kageyama and Kageyama could be anywhere.

Hinata decides to take a chance. After all nothing could be worse than finding Kageyama with Oikawa.

He chose the front door. It was locked but he knocked and Asahi let him in. “Hey, I thought we agreed we weren’t leaving any more.” Asahi chided him gently and locked the door behind him.

“I know. I’m here now. No more leaving,” Hinata promised.

He followed Asahi into the dining room and took the seat next to Kageyama who immediately reached for his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“I was just about to come looking for you. Did you get what you needed?” he whispered.

Hinata nodded, trying not to relax too much.

“You had me worried. We’re staying put for the rest of the night. No more leaving one another.” Kageyama was quiet but insistent. It made Hinata hope even though he knew he shouldn’t just yet.

Hinata squeezed his hand back. “I’ll stay put now,” he whispered. This felt right. Kageyama felt like his on a cellular level.

The others were done with whatever else Tsukishima had been telling them. “What about some sleep? If we’re all staying put, maybe we could sleep in shifts. Some of us could take turns keeping watch. That way we could all get enough rest to at least keep our heads on straight in case this isn’t over by tomorrow morning.” Ukai proposed.

“Do you want to sleep?” Kageyama asked him. They were already choosing Daichi, Ennoshita, and Ukai for the first watch. Nishinoya, Asahi, and Tsukishima volunteered for the second, and Kageyama asked for the third watch with Tanaka if no one minded. No one did. Hinata agreed that he could use some sleep. He really could use a shower though, first.

“I’ll be there in a little while then,” Kageyama told him and Hinata left, feeling good about the situation for the first time in he wasn’t even sure how long he’d been searching. It felt like hours or even days.

Kageyama went about checking the windows and doors with Daichi so Hinata decided to grab a shower and wait for him in their room. Everything is the way he remembered it, even though he knew that even as he was fairly sure this was his Kageyama there was no way they’d made it back to the original house. He couldn’t know which of his friends, if any, were actually from the same universe he was from. He found it didn’t matter nearly as much as knowing he’d found his Kageyama again.

He walked toward the bathroom, but the door opened. He was suddenly and horribly face to face with himself. Hinata felt something vital inside him snap. This Hinata had to go. If he had any chance to stay with his Kageyama, then this Hinata had to go. Obviously his other self came to the same conclusion because they lunged for one another at the same time.

They went down together, thankfully with Hinata on top. He punched his twin several times and they rolled and kicked, but it took bashing his head against the side of the cabinet to finally knock the other Hinata out.

It was all over fairly quickly, but then Hinata had to decide what to do with his twin. According to Tsukishima, they all needed to be inside when the comet passed because the other houses and their twins would all go back to their own universes and the world would right itself. Anyone outside would be left, well, wherever. Hinata didn’t know. All he knew was that he needed to get his double out of the house and somehow do it without being seen.

The trunk.

He’d put the other Hinata in the trunk of his car and then he’d be gone as soon as the comet was. Hinata would be inside and safe with his Kageyama and they could put the whole ugly ordeal behind them.

It took some careful maneuvering, but Hinata managed to get the body, not dead body, just sleeping he reminded himself. He managed to get the body rolled up in a blanket so he could more easily drag it out onto the porch, and around the house until he was on the street. He took out his keys and unlocked the back. The rolled up Hinata groaned, Hinata ignored him and lifted him, shoving him inside the trunk. As soon as he had fully pushed the Hinata inside, he shut it and walked back onto their porch.

He sat down and thought of nothing until Kageyama came out and put his arm around him.

“Hey, what’re you doing out here?” he asked.

“Just thinking,” Hinata lied as he wrapped both arms around Kageyama, _his_ Kageyama, and sighed. Kageyama stroked his head for a minute before speaking again.

“Let’s go to bed.”

Hinata followed him inside as he felt the dull ache of exhaustion roll over him. He didn’t bother to change and rolled right into bed, waiting for Kageyama. Just at this moment, nothing felt real at all aside from the itchiness of too tired eyes, the weariness in his muscles, and the sight of Kageyama puttering around the room getting ready for bed. Of all of them, Kageyama was the only thing that mattered.

When, finally, Kageyama laid next to him, he moved closer and kissed him sleepily. It was easy and natural and Hinata didn’t feel an ounce of the anxiety he’d had before when it came to getting closer to Kageyama. When his eyes closed, they stayed that way and he could feel Kageyama smiling as he lay back on the bed.

“Goodnight,” Hinata said.

“Goodnight.” Came the softest of replies.


	6. Gravity is Dead You See

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for sticking with this fic for so long. Here at the end I have to admit I'm a little sad to see it finished. I hope you're ready, this one came in a little short, but definitely to the point.

The Olympics. They were really going. It didn’t even matter that they were going with Oikawa either. It only mattered that they were going together. 

Two days after they received word, Kageyama made a date with Hinata, to celebrate. There would be more parties to come, but for Hinata, this one meant the most because it was just them with their futures spreading out in front of them as they’d always dreamed.

Dinner was set for seven and Kageyama was taking his shower as Hinata dressed. He wanted to look nice, which was rare enough. He didn’t want to give Kageyama a heart attack, though, so he decided against the suit his mother bought him, opting instead for the dark green button down that Kageyama loved and the black slacks he pulled out for rare special occasions. Hinata played with his hair until it resembled something closer to a style one would have on purpose, and he even went as far as borrowing one of Kageyama’s black ties. All in all he felt oddly grown up. It was a good look on him, he thought.

Of course Kageyama went all out. He was in his navy suit with the light blue shirt that made it look like he belonged on a runway or at the very least one of the downtown high rises working behind a big desk. It always made Hinata’s knees feel a little on the weak side to see Kageyama like that. Neither of them were big on wearing anything other than jeans and t-shirts and for a minute Hinata regrets not pulling out his own suit. All of that changed when he saw the look Kageyama was giving him.

Tobio was blushing.

Hinata hadn’t seen him blush since they first moved in and realized they had to navigate living together at the same time as navigating their brand new romance. It had been a lot at the time and poor Kageyama had blushed so much more than Hinata had been prepared for. It made him feel great to see it again.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Kageyama asked as he straightened the striped tie knotted at his neck.

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” Hinata teased.

“Oh. You look nice.” Kageyama told him before turning away to check his reflection.

Now it was Hinata’s turn to feel his cheeks heating up. “Thanks. So do you.”

They took a cab to the restaurant, which was a bit of a splurge for them usually, but Kageyama just mumbled something about not wanting to be on a noisy train on their special night. Hinata couldn’t argue with that. He was already excited so a crowd would have only made his fidgeting and nervous energy worse. Leave it to Kageyama to consider everything.

They pulled up outside a small place called East Village. Hinata had never been there, but he was sure Kageyama had done all his research before picking the place. Inside he found the place completely empty except for one that had a little white tablecloth thrown over it and a single red rose in a tiny white vase. Immediately Hinata loved it.

“Did you rent the whole place?” Hinata asked incredulously. The waitress was grinning at them.

“All seven tables.” Kageyama admitted. 

Hinata hit his arm playfully as they were seated. This was too much. It was perfect.

Their table was set by the windows which gave them a view of the city at night, or a portion of it, and the passersby as they made their way to and from their various destinations. It made him feel like they were in their own tiny bubble of warm light that spilled out on the pavement outside. 

The restaurant turned out to be a burger place, which was fun and totally unexpected. Once they ordered, burgers, fries, and beer that came out in champagne flutes much to Hinata’s delight, they settled in to talking about their new training schedule and their expectations for the months leading up to the olympics. Hinata couldn’t help squirm in his seat from all the excitement. He could barely eat for all the chatting they did.

When it came time for dessert, Kageyama grew serious.

“I want you to know that I know I couldn’t have done any of this without you, Shouyou.” He said, reaching out to take Hinata’s hand.

Hinata felt overwhelmed by the sentiment. Hadn’t they helped each other all along? “I feel the same way,” he admitted softly.

Kageyama smiled and it was was tender and Hinata knew that particular smile was one only he ever got to see. It was just for him alone. 

“Since the day you came fighting your way into my life, hauling me along to greatness, sometimes while I tried to fight back, you have changed me. You made me try harder, you made me better in every way. Hinata Shouyou, you made sure every step of the way that all of my dreams have come true. Now, as we get ready to go to the olympics together, there’s just one more thing that would make my life perfect. Shouyou, will you marry me?”

Hinata’s cheek was damp with tears he didn’t know he was shedding. Kageyama pulled out a ring and held it out. It was simple and beautiful and Hinata silently held his hand out so that Kageyama could slip the ring on his finger. 

He hesitated, searching Hinata’s face. “I didn’t expect you to be so quiet. Is this a yes?”

“Yes! Oh my god, you can’t tease me right now! Yes, I’ll marry you, put that ring on my finger.” Hinata demanded. Once it was settled on his finger, Kageyama surprised him by pulling out a second ring. 

“This one’s for me, so everyone will know I’m yours too.” He passed the ring to Hinata so he could put it on Kageyama’s finger for him. Then Kageyama leaned over and kissed his hand, right over the ring and Hinata felt like he was so happy he might burst.

They decided to walk home since their place wasn’t too far and the night was cool. Both of them were still floating in the aftermath of their engagement and Hinata felt that everything was exactly as it should be.

Hinata and Kageyama held hands, not talking so much as just enjoying each other’s company. At each intersection they had to wait at Hinata’s eyes would inevitably drift over to Kageyama’s and they would grin at each other. It was so silly and sappy and usually not at all like them, but he loved it, down to his very core. The night couldn’t get any better.

The flower shop on the corner near the apartment building was closed already, but Hinata stopped to admire the display anyway. They knew the owner so he’d be sure and tell her how lovely it was the next day. There were little bees on the window and the vases were a rainbow of color. It was whimsical, kind of like the restaurant they’d eaten at. They started walking again, but it reminded him of something he’d meant to ask.

“What made you pick that restaurant. I mean, it was kind of perfect, but I can’t imagine how you chose it.” Hinata asked, looking up at Kageyama as they walked.

He wasn’t expecting Kageyama’s face to suddenly shutter closed the way it did. He certainly wasn’t expecting Kageyama to stop walking or to drop his hand. He was just about to ask what had happened when Kageyama whispered, “You don’t remember it?”

No? Should he? He was certain he’d never been there. “No, I’m sorry. I feel like an asshole saying this, but I really don’t remember it.” Hinata bit into his lip, his stomach flopping over nervously.

“Shouyou. Our first date? We ate there. You loved it. We always meant to go back, I don’t know why we never did. I can’t believe you’re telling me you don’t remember.” Kageyama looked genuinely hurt and Hinata wanted to make it better as fast as possible.

It hit him then, like a ton of bricks. He wasn’t sure that he’d ever understood that expression, but he felt it now. He did remember their first date. He remembered it really clearly and he remembered where they’d eaten. Capo Pellicano, a little Italian place. Hinata felt himself go cold all over.

“Oh my god, no I remember now. I think I had too much to drink or something.” No, wrong, wrong. Hinata’s vision swam and he had to steady himself on Kageyama’s arm. “I’m sorry, of course I remember our first date. I’m a dumbass.”

Kageyama seemed to consider this for a moment, but eventually he stopped pursing his lips and scowling so hard at Hinata. Maybe he was buying it or maybe he was coming to the same realization that Hinata just had. 

This wasn’t his Kageyama. No matter how right everything had felt, not matter how exact their lives had matched up, somehow that night he’d chosen wrong and now there would never be any going back. Deep in his heart something shattered.

“Maybe you have had too much to drink. Let’s get you home.” Kageyama said, and wound Hinata’s arm over his on so Hinata could lean on him as they walked. 

Hinata definitely leaned. He leaned and he thought until he gave himself a headache. By the time they’d reached the apartments he’d decided one thing. This man beside him might not have been the one he originally fell for, but he was the one he’d spent the last five years falling in love with. He would need to proceed very carefully and think everything through before he did anything. If he did anything at all.

Even so, lying in the dark later on, unable to sleep, Hinata let himself mourn his loss. Kageyama, his Kageyama was lost to him and he would never know what happened to him. Did he have a replacement Hinata? Was he happy? Did he know they’d lost each other? Was he lying in some cold lonely bed missing Hinata right now?

No answers came and Hinata had to accept that they never would.


End file.
